Wrongly Accused
by Arisaurus
Summary: Vylit found solace in a mystery man named Peter years ago when tragedy struck in her life, but now her association with him might lead to her death when a strange man brings her before a warlord named Ronan, demanding answers about an orb. Will her innocence set her free or will Peter come to save her? Will she want him to when her feelings for Ronan start to become confusing?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own character. The rest belongs to Marvel, or whoever it is that owns it. It's just not me. **

**Also, I originally wrote this in third person then changed it to first person because I'm more comfortable writing that way, so if I missed any pretenses please let me know.**

**It's rated mature because I like to swear. And maybe things will get steamy. Who knows.**

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><p>I stood there staring blankly at the mahogany box. It truly was beautiful in all its simplicity. The wood was a deep brown and smooth. The silver accents had been polished nicely for today. The sun that was trying to break free from the overhead clouds would light up the red undertones briefly in a way that I had always been fascinated with. I loved mahogany, just as my mother had. We always dreamed of having a house with mahogany everywhere. Mahogany floors, mahogany cupboards, mahogany dressers, anything and everything you could think of. We would look at home improvement magazines and pick and choose the best pieces for the house we would eventually have. Today, however, I hated mahogany.<p>

"I'd like to thank you all for gathering here today to celebrate…."

I tuned the rest of what the preacher said out. This was no celebration. This was a sick joke. I could feel eyes on me, but I ignored them. I only had eyes for that mahogany box. The box that now held the shell of what was my mother. I hadn't fully accepted it yet, that she was dead. They told me it had been an accident. The other driver didn't see her. Or maybe they were distracted. I didn't really know, nor did I really care for specifics. They told me she had died instantly, there was no suffering. How could they have known? How could they have possibly known what she was feeling in those last few moments before her life got ripped away from her?

The preacher continued to rattle on in the background, and I could hear the sniffles of crying people around me. My father had been watching me closely these past couple days. I hadn't actually cried yet. All I felt was numb. I hadn't spent my nights crying myself to sleep, nor had I gotten angry. I just existed. It was like there was some kind of emotional stopper in me at the moment, blocking my feelings from coming out. As I stared at that mahogany box, however, that mahogany box that would be the only mahogany home my mother would ever know, I could feel anxiety building up inside of me. This wasn't right. _I'm only sixteen, for god's sake._ There was still so much we had planned to do. She couldn't be..

"Vylit?" someone asked, reaching out to touch my shoulder. I whipped my head to the side, pulling my shoulder from the person's grip. My vision was blurring rapidly as I stared up into the worried face of my father's. "Do you want to say something?" I glanced around then to see that everyone's eyes were on me. I shrunk back a little, a painful anxiety blooming throughout my chest.

"Vylit?" he asked again, tentatively. He reached out for my shoulder again, but I stumbled backwards, shaking my head violently.

"No. I can't…" I started, feeling my voice catch for a moment. "I can't do this," I finished before turning and running away from the crowd of people as quickly as I could.

"Vylit!" I heard me father yell from behind me.

"Let her go, John," a woman said, and I assumed he listened since I didn't hear anyone following me. I didn't know where I was running to, but I just needed to get away from there. I felt tears streaming down my face, and I could barely see, but I refused to stop. If I just kept going I could get away from it all. I could escape from this dream and run right back into reality where my mother would be waiting for me with a smile on her face.

The anxiety caught up to me first. I slowed next to a mausoleum, gasping for air as I leaned against it. I only had a moment to catch my breath before everything I had been holding in broke free. I let out a strangled cry, wrapping my arms around myself as I slowly slid to the ground and let the sobs take over my body. I buried my face into my knees, my body shaking as I let my mind get over taken by the grief I had been trying to ignore.

"Hey, are you okay?" a voice asked from beside me. I jumped and turned to look at the stranger, wondering how long he had been there. I certainly hadn't heard him approach, but then I had been kind of wrapped up in my own world. He looked like he was a few years older than me. He had short, light brown hair that curled a little at the ends, and green, almost hazel colored eyes.

"I.."I started, but couldn't find my words.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just saw you over here crying by yourself and thought I would see if you were okay," he said, giving me a goofy little smile.

"It's fine," I said quickly, reaching up to wipe the tears, and probably the remnants of my makeup off from my face. "I, um.." _just ran away from my mother's funeral._ The thought sent another shot of pain through my chest and I felt my eyes start to water again.

"Hey, it's okay," he said, sitting down next to me. "You don't have to tell me. I wouldn't want to tell me either. A complete stranger that just appeared in the middle of a cemetery? Kind of weird if you ask me." I chuckled a little as I looked up to see that goofy grin again.

"Ah, that's what I like to see. A smile on a pretty girl's face," he said, his smile widening.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, straightening up a little as I used the edge of my sleeve to wipe at my face again.

"Uh, well, I'm here to visit my mother," he said, his smile faltering a little. My eyes widened as I clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Oh my god, I'm so stupid! I'm so sorry. Of course, why else would you be in a cemetery?" I asked rhetorically, turning towards him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude," I said hastily.

"It's fine," he said with a little chuckle. "She's been dead for a while. I just come to Ea—here, to visit her every year," he said, hastily, covering up his brief word slip up. I didn't really think about it as I stared at him sadly.

"I.. My mother's.. her funeral was today," I finished, my vision blurring again as I turned away from him, not wanting to cry any more in front of a complete stranger. My body didn't obey me though as my tears spilled over.

"I'm sorry," I heard him whisper, before feeling his arms wrap around me. Normally I would have pushed him away, but this was exactly what I needed right now. I needed this physical comfort, even if it was from a complete stranger. I leaned into him, one of my hands gripping onto his soft t-shirt. We stayed like this for a few moments before I felt him slip something slightly scratchy over my ears. I looked up at him questioningly as I reached up to feel that it had been headphones.

"This was something my Mom made for me as a kid. I always listen to it when I need something to cheer me up," he explained before pressing a button. A few seconds later an older slow song started to play and I settled back down against his chest. I closed my eyes as his arms circled back around me.

I wasn't sure how long we had stayed like this, cycling through crying and silence, but I had listened to quite a few songs before he nudged me a little and started to pull the headphones off. I sat up a little to look at him, when I heard my name being called somewhere off in the distance.

"I think people are looking for you," he said, slipping the headphones around his neck.

"I think so too," I said with a sigh. I straightened up and ran my fingers through my golden brown hair. "I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time. You probably have your own things to do today besides comfort a stranger."

"Oh, don't even worry about it. It would be a crime to let a girl like you cry alone," he said, standing up and straightening out his red leather jacket. I noticed then how weird his clothes were, or maybe that was just because I wasn't used to seeing a lot of people wear leather around here. He reached a hand down to me, and I accepted it with a smile.

"Well, thank you. I really appreciate it," I said as he helped to pull me up. I saw the giant wet stain on his shirt from where I had been crying and I frowned a little. "I feel so silly. I just spend the last like hour crying on your shirt, but I don't even know your name."

"I didn't really like this shirt anyways," he laughed looking down at the spot as well. "My name is Peter. Peter Quill."

"I'm Vylit. It was a pleasure to ruin your shirt," I said, reaching a hand out too him. I expected him to shake it, but instead he grabbed it and lightly kissed the back of my knuckles.

"I'm glad you did. Seriously, this is an awful shirt," he said with that grin again. He let go of my hand and I laughed, feeling a little flustered. He actually was kind of cute, but I really needed to go, or else my father would get mad at me.

"Well, I hope to see you again, Peter Quill," I said, taking a step back.

"Hey, what's the date today?" he asked suddenly, and I frowned a little bit. How did he not know the date?

"Uh, it's the 15th," I said slowly, blinking a little in confusion.

"Okay, good. I hope I'll see you too, Vylit," he said before turning to walk away. We waved awkwardly before I turned completely to follow the voices back to my father. I took a few steps before looking back to get one last look at the mystery boy I had just met only to find that he had already disappeared. I looked around a little before letting out a disappointed sigh.

"VYLIT, WHERE ARE YOU?" my father's concerned voice yelled in the distance.

"I'm coming, Dad!" I yelled out, straightening my shirt and heading for the voices.

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><p><em>Several Years Later…<em>

I breathed in a deep breath of fresh air. It was a beautiful day out, thank god. Everyone had been telling me it was supposed to rain, but as I looked up all I could see was sunlight and blue sky for miles. Not a cloud in sight. I grabbed the bouquet of flowers off my passenger seat, slid the strap to my bag over my shoulder, and smiled as I stepped out of my car, closing the door behind me. Today was an exciting day for me just as much as it was a sad one. Today marked seven years that my mother had been dead. I pushed the button on my key ring twice until I heard the car beep to tell me it had locked. I shoved my keys in my pocket and walked up to iron fence surrounding the cemetery my mother was buried in.

Every year on this exact date I would visit my mother's grave and leave a bouquet of her favorite flowers, tiger lilies. My mother had always said that once they got a bigger house she was going to start gardening, but she would only fill it with tiger lilies. My father had said that if she did he was going to paint the house four different colors until he found one he liked. I laughed to myself a little at the memory as I made my way back to the plot where my mother was. This walk used to fill me with such sorrow. Granted, it still made me sad, but I had finally come to accept that there are things that will happen in life that you'll never be able to change and that you can't let them hold you down.

"Hey, Mom," I said with a smile, kneeling down in front of the gravestone. I brushed some dirt off the top, looking over the words with a sigh. "I brought you your favorite flowers." I set the bouquet down before standing back up. I reached up and ran my fingers through my long hair again before looking to the gravestone next to my mother's.

"I didn't bring you any flowers, Dad. I know how much you never cared for them," I said with a chuckle. My father had died a few years ago of a heart attack. I had been halfway through college when it happened, but thankfully he had left me enough of an inheritance that I was able to get by comfortably on my own until I could find a job of my own. He had been miserable without my mother and had never remarried. A part of me had been happy for that, but if it would have made him happy again I would have accepted it.

I stood there for a few minutes, briefly updating them about the things going on in my life. I had finally graduated college. I was thinking about grad school, but also wanted to take a break. I was thinking about getting a cat, and I thought I was about to get new neighbors. This process had been weird to me at first, just randomly ranting about the things going on in my life to no one at all. Eventually though I found it a little comforting. When I ran out of things to say, I said my goodbyes and walked off further into the cemetery.

With each step I took my smile grew a little wider. Today was exciting because it meant that I got to see the mysterious Peter Quill again. Every year on this date he would just seem to materialize out of nowhere and we'd spend hours together. I'd bring some food and the two of us would sit side by side and talk about our lives for hours. He'd tell me fantastic tales of space adventures and I'd tell him stories from college. I wasn't sure if I believed his crazy stories, but I didn't really mind. It was the one day where I could completely let myself go and just have fun. I had never told anyone about the secret rendezvous I had on this day because I liked it just like that. A secret. I didn't want anyone else to barge into my brief window of living in a fantasy.

"Hey, there you are!" Peter called out, jogging up to me. He was dressed the same as he usually was, red leather with a blue t-shirt, weird gadgets hanging from his belt and bright orange headphones around his neck. He had told me what all those gadgets did once, but he refused to show me. He said I wasn't ready to see that much awesome no matter how much I asked. I just told myself that it was because they weren't actually real, but a part of me truly wished they were.

"Hey, Peter! Usually I'm the one to get here first," I said with a laugh as he stopped in front of me.

"I was in the area and figured I'd stop by early," he said with a noncommittal shrug.

"Uh huh, just admit you were super excited to see me again," I said jokingly, reaching for my bag.

"Alright, alright, you got me," Peter said with a mock heavy sigh, throwing his hands up in defeat. "What did you bring for me today?"

"I brought you—hey, be patient," I said, slapping his hand as he tried to reach for my purse.

"Owww," he whined.

"Serves you right, trying to get into a lady's purse. Honestly. I brought you a burger and fries," I said, pulling out a rolled up paper bag and handed it to him.

"Dude, that is what I am talking about," he said excitedly as he opened the bag. "Earth food is so much different than Xandar's. You have no idea how good this is," he said, shoveling fries into his mouth.

"You guys really don't have burgers and fries? What kind of planet doesn't have burgers and fries?" I asked incredulously as we set up camp next to the mausoleum we met at.

"Mmm dey haf it, ifs shu—"

"Peter, swallow. I have no idea what you're saying," I said with a smile. He held a finger up to me, chewing furiously before swallowing.

"They have it, it's just definitely not the same. At all," he said before shoveling more food in his mouth. I laughed, pulling a water bottle from my bag.

"Here, drink this, before you choke, you glutton," I said, and he gladly grabbed the bottle from my hand. He unscrewed the cap and drank deeply from it, giving me a quick thumbs up.

"Oh god, thank you. You treat me too good. But really, this is fantastic," he said, finally slowing down.

"You should bring me Xandarian food one of these days," I said, raising a brow at him.

"I could. I don't think you'd want to eat it though. They make some weird stuff. I don't know how well it would hold up to this atmosphere," he said, looking around speculatively as if the air had the answer to his question.

"Or you could take me there one day," I said cautiously. I had been toying with the idea for a while. I didn't have any responsibilities here on Earth now. I was done with school so I was in this weird in between stage where you either get a job, go to graduate school, or just veg out until you're forced to get a shitty job to get by. I had always wanted to travel, but travelling the states didn't sound anywhere near as appealing as his stories did.

He looked hard at me for a moment, clearly not expecting the request. I held my breath as I watched him, wishing I could hear what was going on in his head. He looked conflicted, and I felt my hopes drop a little. He probably doesn't want someone barging in on his life. It's not like I know anything about space. I would just get in his way.

"I'm just kidding. I probably wouldn't last a day in space," I said hastily with an awkward chuckle. He looked like he was about to say something, but I didn't want to hear the rejection so I quickly changed the subject. "So, _Star-Lord_, tell me about your latest adventure." His face instantly brightened at the request and a mischievous smile spread across his lips.

"Well, Yondu sent me to this abandoned Planet called Modag to collect something called the Orb. Really, that's the name of this thing. Super original," he says, rolling his eyes. He continues on to tell me about this machine he used that showed him how the people used to live back then and then lead him to the location of the orb. He told me about the weird rat like creatures that lived there, getting more and more animated as he went along. He told me about the cool machine he used to pull the orb out from where it was, and I briefly thought that one of those sounded kind of handy.

"As soon as I got the orb though, I turned around and there were three men standing there. Well, I can't really say two of them were men. They looked more like weird mutated ninja turtles, super weird. But they apparently were looking for the orb as well. Well, I wasn't going to just let them have it after all that work I did," he said with a scoff.

"No, of course not," I said with a mock frown before laughing softly. I always found myself completely ensnared by him when he told me these stories. He was always such a fantastic story teller, even if there was a chance he was making it all up. This was the part I looked forward to the most when he got here though. I could just lose myself in this made up world and dream that I could be something completely different.

"Exactly. That was my orb. I did all the work, there was just no way. So, I told them who I was, that I was the Star-Lord, and they started to get worried," he continued.

"As they rightly should!" I exclaimed with a large smile, and he smiled happily down at me.

"Right? So, they start to get worried, but the main guy thinks he can take me. His boss wants the orb. Ronan, or something like that. Never heard of him, so he clearly isn't that big of a deal," Peter said confidently, shoving another fry in his mouth. "Well, he lets his guard down and I disintegrate his lackeys with this little light up ball that I have, and he realizes how screwed he is. I give him the option of leaving peacefully and just letting me have the orb, but he refuses and we get into this HUGE fight. It was pretty epic. Blew a hole out of the wall behind me and everything," he says proudly.

"Wow, this thing must be pretty important," I said with wide eyes.

"I guess so. So after I defeat the big guy I wipe out the rest of his lackeys, get on my ship, and came all the way here so I didn't miss our date," he said with that goofy smile I had come to love. My heart fluttered at the word date, and I felt a smile take over my face, but I quickly regained my composure.

"So, wait, you have the orb now? You didn't take it back to Yondu?" I asked, stealing one of his fries.

"Yes, I—hey, those are mine!" he said in protest, but all I did was laugh as I stole another one. He glared playfully at me before reaching behind him and pulling out a silver orb. "You're lucky you're cute."

"Oh, wow, it's beautiful," I said, reaching my hand out. He placed the orb lightly in my hand and I pulled it up to my face, surprised at how cool it was. There was no clear pattern to the design, and yet it didn't look like anything else I had seen before. "What does it do?"

"No idea. We're not generally told much about what we're sent out to collect," he said with a shrug.

"Hmm," I mused, inspecting it for a couple more seconds. It didn't seem like it opened anywhere. Maybe it was just a decorative piece. I handed it back to him, and he slipped it back into his bag. "Seems like a lot of work for just a small little thing."

"You're telling me," he sighed heavily. "Actually, I really should be getting this back to Xandar," he said, frowning a little as he started to get up.

"Already? But you just got here!" I protested as I hastily stood up.

"I know, and I feel like a dick about it. I should have come later. I was just afraid I wouldn't have the time," he said, packing up the left overs of his food. I pursed my lips a little, watching him as I desperately wanted to ask him to take me with him again. At some point through the years I realized I had kind of fallen for him. Probably because he was so mysterious and yet absolutely funny and charming. I wanted to be a part of his world, wanted to be next to him. Clearly there had to be something here or else he wouldn't come to visit me every year without fail.

"Peter.."

"Yeah?" he asked, pausing to look at me. I opened my mouth, ready to ask again, but the words wouldn't come out. After a brief pause I sighed instead and smiled up at him.

"Take care of yourself. And next time make sure you can stay longer! I feel like I got cheated out of this year," I teased, and he shot me that goofy grin again.

"Of course, Vylit. I'm sorry, I really mean it. I know, I'm an asshole," Peter said, reaching out to pull me into a hug.

"It's okay," I said against his chest, wrapping my arms back around him. I hated this moment, when he left. He would hug me and I'd smell him, a mixture of leather and something I couldn't quite put my finger on, on my shirt for the rest of the day. "I _suppose_ I'll forgive you."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise. I'll bring you something really cool next time!" he said, his eyes lighting up with the idea.

"Alright, I'll hold you to that," I said threateningly. He just laughed and leaned down to kiss my forehead before pulling away from me.

"Bye, Vylit!" he called back to me as he ran off in the opposite direction.

"Bye, Peter! I'll miss you!" I called after him, waving frantically.

"I'll miss you, too!" he yelled. I watched him until he disappeared out of my line of vision. I sighed heavily, turning away only to almost walk into someone. Startled, I staggered backwards, almost falling, but I caught myself in time.

"That was the Star-Lord?" asked a deep male voice. At least I assumed it was a man. He wore a weird mask so that I couldn't see his face, but it appeared to be helping him breathe. Over his body he wore some type of weird armor that I had never seen before.

"W-who are you?" I asked, terror bubbling up rapidly inside of me as I hastily stepped back from the man. He raised some sort of weapon in response to my movements and I instantly froze.

"_DON'T MOVE._ Was that the man who calls himself Star-Lord? Answer me, Terran, or I will kill you here and now," he threatened, and I could sense it wasn't an idle one. My name wasn't Terran though, why did he call me that?

"Y-yes. Yes he is," I stuttered out, my heart beating a mile a minute in my chest. Was this man someone from another planet? Could Peter really have been telling the truth?

"Take her to Ronan," the man commanded, and it was the last thing I heard before pain erupted in the back of my head and darkness took over.


	2. Gamora's POV - Dark Aster

**Disclaimer: I'm not going to put these on every chapter, but I just also wanted to say that I will be using direct scenarios from the movie. The dialogue will be as accurate as possible, but it is no way my own. **

**Occasionally I will have little parts of the story that are in other P.O.V's. They may get their own chapter like this one, or they may be combined with Vylit's chapter. It depends on how long it comes out. I will probably split them them however so that it doesn't get *too* confusing with the change of 1st and 3rd P.O.V.**

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><p>Gamora stood there patiently in the throne room as she waited for Korath to return. He had been sent out to retrieve the orb for Ronan and should be returning at any moment. Her eyes flickered briefly over to where the warlord sat. She had to plan her next few moves very carefully. When she learned that her captor, Thanos, was looking for the orb she knew it must be extremely dangerous. He had even leant her and her <em>sister, <em>Nebula, to Ronan to aid him. In return for retrieving it for him he promised to wipe out all of Xandar for the warlord. She wasn't sure how he planned to do this, nor was she going to worry about it. She was solely focused on retrieving that orb and keeping it as far away as possible from both of them.

She had always hated Thanos, but recently he seemed to be more power hungry and cruel than she remembered. Recognizing this, Gamora had been desperately searching for a way to get out from his captivity. When talk of this orb came about it almost seemed too good to be true. If she went with Ronan she could get out from under the watchful eye of Thanos and start to plan her escape, which is exactly what she was doing.

Shortly after she arrived on the Dark Aster she contacted a man she had only heard about, a man who went by the title the Collector. From what she had heard he was her best bet for selling this orb, and she hadn't been disappointed. She had given him the details of what they were retrieving, and he offered a surprising amount of 4 billion units. This only increased Gamora's curiosity as to what this orb actually was, but her freedom was more appealing than getting further involved in the mystery of this object.

From outside the throne room Gamora could hear hurried footsteps and her eyes shifted anxiously to the entrance. When Korath appeared there seconds later she looked over him quickly. He didn't appear to be holding anything. Had he failed? His face was drawn into a frown as he approached Ronan, and her heart fell for a moment. There had been no anticipated problems on this mission. What had happened?

"Korath, I do not seem to see an orb in your possession. What is the meaning of this?" came the rumbling voice of Ronan from next to her.

"We ran into a ravager on Modag who was after the orb. Master he is a thief. An outlaw who calls himself Star-Lord, but we have discovered that he has an agreeance to retrieve the orb for an intermediary called the Broker," Korath explained quickly, clearly flustered by whatever had happened on the planet.

"I promised Thanos I would retrieve the orb for him. Only then will he destroy Xandar for me," Ronan said, sounding slightly agitated. In a fluid motion he stood up, turning towards the other woman in the room. "Nebula, go to Xandar and get me the orb." Gamora's eyes flashed towards her sister, a sense of panic setting in. She knew Nebula was more than capable of getting the orb, but that wasn't the problem. Gamora knew she couldn't convince her sister to bring that orb back to _her_. She could tell how infatuated she had become with Ronan. She saw the way Nebula looked at him, the way she lusted for the power that he had.

"It will be my honor," Nebula said, walking forward with a proud smile.

"It will be your doom," Gamora spoke quickly, stepping forward. Nebula paused, anger flashing through her dark eyes as she looked to her. Gamora didn't care if she hurt her feelings. In truth she didn't hate Nebula, she never had. She had felt sorry for her sister after all the things Thanos had put her through. The games, the modifications, the blatant disgust when she failed his expectations. Gamora would have saved Nebula if she knew there was a chance, but exposing herself was not a risk she was willing to take. She would do whatever was necessary however to ensure her own survival in this.

"If this happens again, you'll be facing our father without his prize," Gamora threatened, looking to Ronan now. She hated to call Thanos that, for he was anything but, but she had learned survival not honesty. She could see Ronan contemplating what she said. It was true. If he continued to fail Thanos he would only remain patient for so long. Gamora had proven to be stronger than Nebula many times throughout the years. It would only make sense to send her over Nebula now that they were in a tight spot.

"I am a daughter of Thanos, just like you," Nebula said in slow, agitated tone. She could tell her sister was trying to remain calm, but Gamora would not give her an opportunity to try to reason with Ronan.

"But I know Xandar," Gamora retorted. It was true. Gamora had proven herself stronger than Nebula so she was sent out more often to take care of whatever Thanos needed. Besides, Gamora didn't need repairs when she failed.

"But Ronan has already decreed that I—" Nebula started with an angry desperation before getting cut off.

"Do not speak for me," Ronan snapped in a low tone, sending her a quelling glare. Nebula's looked away, an angry shame filling her face as her jaw clenched. Gamora felt bad for a moment, but she ignored it as Ronan turned on her. He walked towards her slowly, stopping just a few inches from her. "You will not fail," he threatened, his purplish eyes boring down into hers. She could feel her sister's gaze trying to pierce through her.

"Have I ever?" Gamora replied confidently, her face unwavering. She was Thanos' favorite prize because of that fact. Little did he know she would soon become his greatest failure.

"Master, there is one more thing. We were able to follow this thief, Star-Lord, to Terra. He visited a terran girl there with the orb in his possession. They appear to be close. We lost track of him once he left the planet. I believe he discovered we had been following him, but we were able to capture the girl. I brought her back so that you may question her if you wish,"Korath reported, seeming to have regained his composure a little with the apparent good news.

"A Terran? Very well, bring her to me," Ronan instructed, his tone going from surprised to bored. If the man truly was a thief then there was no way he would have left the orb on that planet, so why had he taken the detour? Either way, Gamora didn't care. She needed to get to Xandar and find this Star-Lord before he could run off again. She didn't wish to kill him, simply take the orb and run, but she would do whatever was necessary.

"She is not yet awake, Master. I am afraid one of the Sakaarans may have hit her too hard," Korath explained. Gamora turned and started walking towards the entrance way. She didn't have time to care about this prisoner.

"I don't recall asking," Ronan said in a slow, threatening tone.

"Very well, Master," Korath said hastily, and she heard his footsteps behind her.

"Gamora, do you not wish to hear what our new guest has to say?" Ronan called out after her, causing her to stop.

"Every minute I waste here is a minute more that this Star-Lord has to escape. You can inform me later if she has anything insightful to say," Gamora called over her shoulder, continuing to walk away. She heard a low grumble from behind her, but ignored it. Her freedom was too close for her to care if she angered him now. Soon she would be travelling as far from this galaxy as possible and she would never have to deal with Ronan or Thanos ever again.

As she stepped out into the hallway she saw Korath return, two Sakaaran soldiers behind him carrying the Terran prisoner. They must not have put her very far away. The girl was slumped awkwardly, clearly still unconscious. All Gamora could see was her long, golden brown hair. She wondered if the girl had ever been outside of her home planet. If not, she did not want to be there when the girl awoke. Ronan was not known for having a great deal of patience, especially when already in a foul mood. _Poor girl._


	3. Chapter 2

**So thank you all for the reviews! I didn't expect to get that many reviews/followers so quickly! I truly appreciate it. I will warn you, however, I am leaving America on Friday. I will be studying abroad in England for the semester. I will still keep up with this story, though, don't you fret! I just might be a little slow on updating. If I don't get the next chapter done before I leave then I will work on it during my long ass plane ride. I hope you all enjoy!**

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><p>My body felt heavy. It was almost as if there was cement lying just under my skin, surrounding my nerves so that they were unable to respond. It was coated over my eyelids, forcing them down no matter how hard I struggled to open them. It had seeped into my cranium, into the command center of my body, and had taken me hostage. Everything was slow to respond, but something seemed to be nagging at the back of my head. I couldn't pinpoint what it was. Was I forgetting something? No. Wait, hadn't I been hit?<p>

Before I could think on it for too long I heard a low, rumbling bass reach out to me. The unfamiliar sound seemed to surround me. There was no discernible source or sense to the noise, but I felt it pulling me forward. It seemed neither friendly nor hostile, but rather urgent as the rhythm seemed to increase. I couldn't make myself move any faster, though. That heavy feeling was as unyielding to this powerful sound as it was to me.

Suddenly a coldness erupted inside of me. It gradually trickled down the center of my being, sticking to every surface it came in contact with. I slowly became aware that this coldness was a liquid that was draining now into my stomach, but before I could wonder its source a cold force exploded throughout me. I regained my senses all at once, the heavy feeling being expelled as if I had simply been surrounded by paper. My eyes snapped open and all I could see was the steady stare of purple eyes.

"Oh, jesus!" I exclaimed, shock hitting my body like a bullet as I jerked away from the person standing in front of me. I didn't get far though, my feet slipping underneath me a little, before I sputtered violently. Whatever liquid they had poured into me hadn't completely gone down the right tubes. I coughed roughly, trying to cover my mouth just to discover two people were holding me firmly into place. I looked up to one of them and my eyes widened. There was no face, but definitely eyes hidden behind a hard, almost weblike mask.

"What the FUCK?" I screeched, desperately trying to pull away. I turned to see the other person holding me was exactly the same and terror seized my body. I cried out, my feet slipping out from underneath me. My body didn't crash to the ground, however, their grip was too strong. Their insect like eyes stared down at me, uncaring and empty. Warm fingers wrapped around my jaw and lifted my head back towards the direction of the man in front of me.

"Stop that infernal screaming," he commanded loudly, his voice rumbling throughout my body. I recognized the feeling of it as the sound that had reached out to me in that eternal darkness. I couldn't explore that thought however as I realized this man was… _blue_. It wasn't just some kind of paint. The entirety of his skin that I could see was a bright blue. His hands, his face, his arms, all of it. Drawn over his face was some kind of black war paint. It was coated thickly over his eyes and brow and drawn down to cover his chin like some kind of mask. I couldn't see any telltale ring either that told me his unnatural looking purple and black eyes were some kind of contacts.

"Who the hell are you people?" I yelled back at him, my voice unnaturally high. My eyes shot around the room before landing on what appeared to be a window behind him. I froze, sucking my breath in audibly. Beyond the glass was nothing but a never ending emptiness. There was darkness, but there were also specs of lights of varying colors at a beautiful standstill. It was exactly how one would expect space to look like, and I almost felt like hysteria would overtake me again. "Where am I?" I asked in a quiet, panicked whisper, my eyes shooting back to those dark purple ones.

"You are aboard the Dark Aster, Terran," the man stated matter of factly, his hand dropping from my chin. I felt a twinge of annoyance at hearing myself being called Terran again, but it was a quiet feeling compared to this terror.

"Dark Aster?" I asked, frowning in confusion. I glanced around again, taking in more of my surroundings. I did my best to ignore the insect like creatures holding on to me, my skin crawling a little at the thought of what their faces had looked like. The room was quite large, and relatively empty. Near us was what appeared to be a type of throne made out of some type of hard material. I couldn't see anything behind me, but on the sides of the window were men sitting in chairs, hands moving slowly around some orb that seemed to be floating and moving of its own accord. My frown increased a little as I tried to figure out exactly what they were doing, but a voice cut through my thoughts.

"Master Ronan, I don't believe that she—"

"Ronan?" I interjected, cutting off the man who had stepped forward. That name tugged at my memory. I glanced over at him to see the other man staring at me, a mixture of confusion and agitation on his face. I looked over his armor, and I recognized it immediately. It was the same as the man I had seen in the graveyard right before I had been hit on the back of the head.

"Hey! You were the man in that cemetery! What did you do to me, you asshole?!" I exclaimed, tugging forcefully at the arms that held me. My annoyance was starting to be just as strong as my fear. Who did these people think they were? They had attacked me, abducted me, and now were treating me like _I _was the weird one.

"You were seen associating with that criminal, Star-Lord, Terran! I have brought you here to answer for your crimes as his accomplice," he spat back at me forcefully, taking a step toward me. His eyes were a piercing electric blue, and some kind of electric circlet seemed to be embedded in his head.

"Crimes?! I haven't done anything," I spat back at him, my voice raising in anger.

"I will be the judge of that," the blue man, who I was assuming was Ronan, declared.

"Fuck you, I haven't done anything. You have no right to hold me here," I snapped back at him without thinking. Anger flashed through his eyes, and I felt a brief moment of dread. This man was significantly taller than me despite the fact that I was on the taller side, and he was definitely not scrawny. His body was practically the epitome of masculinity. It was muscular, but not in the bulgy weight lifter kind of way. His muscle looked smooth underneath his skin. The kind of muscle you want to just run your hands across to feel the hardness and power that they possessed. His entire body seemed to be wrapped in that primal kind of essence, and under different circumstances I might have been attracted to him.

'_His boss wants the orb. Ronan, or something like that,'_ Peter's voice echoed through my head. My eyes snapped back to those purple ones after having apparently taking a vacation to soak in his body, my brain finally kicking into gear. _This _must be the Ronan he was talking about. Had he really been telling me the truth all these years? My thoughts must have been all over my face because Ronan's gaze went from an angry one to a slightly suspicious one. Could all of those fantastic stories about space and alien races been real? A nervous laugh bubbled up inside of me. That couldn't be. This must be some kind of joke.

"Okay, guys, you got me," I said, my laugh echoing throughout the chamber. Ronan's eyes narrowed a little. "This was really good. I mean, I don't think I've ever had such a thorough prank pulled on me before. I mean your outfits alone! Are you guys cosplaying or something? Are these some kind of like LARP costumes? Because they're really good."

"What are you talking about?" Ronan asked slowly, a confused frown working over his face.

"I'm talking about all of this! You don't need to pretend anymore, but you stayed in character really well. That was an awesome performance. And you guys, you're super scary. I don't know where you came up with the idea, but good job, seriously. You thoroughly freaked the shit out of me," I said, turning to the men holding on to my arms. They looked between themselves, muttering something that I couldn't quite understand. "Can you even breathe well underneath those masks? They don't look very comfortable."

"Master Ronan, I don't believe she's ever left Terra before," the man with the electric circlet said.

"And you! Your make up work is fantastic. How did you get that headgear to stay in place like that? What kind of glue did you use?" I asked over to him, and he just looked at me confused. "And that backdrop is really convincing too. Is that some kind of projection?" I continued, tilting my head back to see if I could find the projector where it was coming from.

"Terran, this is no joke," Ronan rumbled, sounding rather annoyed.

"Wow, you guys must have hidden the projector pretty well," I stated after a moment. I gave up and looked back to Ronan. "What made you go with blue? That must take a lot of time to put on. Wouldn't you have to be really careful around people so it doesn't rub off? Unless you have some kind of sealer. That must be hard to get out of your clothes though. And where did you get those contacts? They're beautiful," I continued on, ignoring his increasing anger. "Is Peter behind this? He could have at least told you the right name. Did he figure out I didn't believe his stories? He put up a good front, I'll give him that. PETER, YOU CAN COME OUT NOW," I yelled, turning my head to try and get my sights on him. Instead my head was forcefully pulled back forward.

"I am running out of patience for your pathetic nonsense!" Ronan yelled at me, his voice raising with anger. The sound of it reverberated through my body, shaking my confidence out of me. "The thief known as Star-Lord is not here on this ship. If he was I would have no need for you," he spat with disgust.

"Would you like me to get something to make her talk?" a female, almost robotic voice said from nearby. I looked over to see a woman approaching. She was on the shorter side, bald, and her body seemed to be assembled of various parts of metal. Her body was blue, though of a different hue than the man before me. Her eyes were pupil less and black, and they looked up at Ronan expectantly.

"No. I am very capable of handling this on my own, Nebula," Ronan spoke slowly and coldly, his eyes never leaving mine. The other woman looked almost disappointed before she looked at me with disgust.

"Very well," she said boredly and moved back to her spot. I watched her go before looking back up to Ronan, a confused dread filling my chest.

"So you mean to tell me that this isn't actually a prank? This is real? I'm in _space_?" I asked quickly, my heart beating hard in my chest.

"I do not play games, Terran. And I am sick of wasting my time on your pathetic questions. You will tell me what I need to know. If you do not I will not hesitate to kill you. Do you understand?" he threatened, his voice giving no hint of amusement. I nodded slowly, not trusting myself to respond vocally. Ronan turned and moved away from me, walking confidently towards what I assumed was his throne. As he sat down I was pulled by the two creatures holding me to be placed in front of him.

"Let go of me," I spat at them quietly, trying to tug my arms free again. In truth my shoulders were starting to hurt, and I wasn't some child who needed to be babysat. I still wasn't sure what to think of all of this, but it definitely seemed real. If that was true then there was no way I would ever try to escape. Not only would I not get anywhere, but surely I would be killed instantly.

"They will not let you go until I command them to. If you cooperate, perhaps I will allow it. Until then, you will answer every question I put forward. You will not speak unless it is a response to my question," he said, staring at me intently. I clenched my jaw a little, suppressing a sigh inside of me. I wanted to make some form of snappy response, but I could tell this man wasn't joking when he said he would kill me, and he was running out of patience. He regarded me for a moment, his anger seeming to subdue a little now that I had started to cooperate.

"What is the identity of the one called Star-Lord?" he asked calmly. I hesitated for a moment, a thought suddenly striking me. If everything Peter had told me was true, then he could be in a lot of trouble right now. The information I gave them could lead this warlord to him and what then? Would he kill him? Ronan definitely seemed like the type who would go to any lengths to get what he wanted. If I didn't give him the information he asked for then it would be me that he killed. Would my death save Peter? No, I believed this man would find him regardless of what I told him.

"Terran, _do not make me wait,"_ Ronan snapped, pulling me out of my thoughts. I pursed my lips, staring angrily at the man sitting in front of me. I loved Peter. Whenever I thought of him throughout the years it filled me with a giddiness that could only be related to a school girl crush. It was the one good feeling I could depend on when things got hard. I couldn't be sure if he loved me or not, and I certainly wasn't willing to die before finding out. However, I might be willing to lie for him if the opportunity presented itself.

"His name is Peter Quill," I answered, my heart breaking a little at the words. I had already said his name was Peter, so there was no point in trying to lie about that. Besides, if they found out the truth it would be my funeral.

"Who does he work for?" he asked, and I guessed that meant I had passed the first question.

"A man named Yondu," I replied steadily.

"Who is Yondu?" he asked, a slight agitation creeping into his voice. Was that because I was giving him short, basic answers? Well, if that was so, he was just going to have to get over it.

"The head of the Ravagers," I answered, wondering how many questions I would have to answer before at least my arms would be released. Ronan's next question didn't come as quickly as the others did. His eyes narrowed on me for a moment, but I didn't let my brief worry show on my face.

"Have you truly never left Terra before? You seem to know more than an average Terran would," he asked, regarding me curiously.

"I don't even know what Terra is," I stated matter of factly.

"Do not play games with me, _Terran,_" he shot at me threateningly.

"My name is not _Terran_. It's Vylit," I snapped back at him, unable to control my agitation in that moment. "My name is Vylit and I come from Earth, not Terra." Ronan stared at me incredulously for a moment before his face contorted into almost a smile.

"Terra is what we call your _Earth_, so Terran is what we call your species," he said with a condescending chuckle. The sound rolled around the room, and if I hadn't been so frustrated with this whole situation I might have actually enjoyed the deep sound of it. I had already figured out that Terran was more of a title rather than a name, but it didn't aggravate me any less to be addressed by that.

"Well my _name _is Vylit, and no, I have never left Earth before," I said again firmly. His purple eyes stared down at me unwaveringly, but for the first time they weren't cold or angry. I could tell he was still annoyed, but there was a hint of what almost looked like respect lingering there.

"Sakaarans, release her," Ronan commanded, and the creatures holding me instantly let go. I sighed loudly and rotated my shoulders, trying to get the stiff feeling out of them.

"Thank you," I said softly, rubbing one of them firmly.

"If you have never left Terra then how do you know about Ravagers?" he asked calmly, and I realized the earlier questions had all been a test. He probably had already known that information, and was simply testing to see if I would lie to him or not.

"Peter told me stories about them. He would tell me about the different missions he went on with them when he would come to visit," I responded truthfully.

"And what did he tell you when he visited you today?" he asked, leaning forward slightly.

"That your men were scared of him and he beat them up no problem," I said confidently, remembering the tale he told me of how scared they were. Looking at them now I highly doubted that was actually the truth. He had probably twisted that part of the story to make him look a little cooler, but he clearly had defeated them somehow if he managed to escape. Ronan's eyes shot over to where the electrical circlet man was and he looked at me flabbergasted.

"Master, this is far from the truth. We had captured him, but he attacked while our backs were turned. I had never even heard of this thief before. We had almost shot his aircraft out of the sky but he used Ravager tricks to escape. I would never afraid of such scum," he addressed Ronan defensively. My jaw clenched a little, sneering at the man as I clenched my fists. How dare he call Peter that? He attacked me in the middle of a cemetery for god's sake with no way of defending myself! He was the true scum here, not Peter.

"Did this Peter Quill show you the orb he had retrieved from Modag?" Ronan asked, his tone a little more urgent than it had been. His head was cocked slightly as he looked at me curiously.

"Yes, he did. I don't know why you're all so obsessed with it. It's just a silver, decorative orb. There's nothing special about it," I ranted, throwing my hands up a little. Ronan seemed uninterested in what I had to say however.

"And do you know where he took this orb?" he asked without missing a beat.

"No," I lied, and his eyes instantly narrowed on me. I felt my heart flutter a little, and I hoped he hadn't realized it. Peter had told me he was taking it to the planet Xandar, but I wasn't going to tell this blue man that. That would lead him right to Peter, and I had already told them more than I wanted.

"What is your relationship with this thief?" Ronan asked steadily, and there was an intensity resting behind his eyes. It was almost as if he was daring me to lie to him again, and I could feel my palms start to get a little clammy.

"We're just friends," I said quickly, and the corner of his mouth seemed to twitch.

"How did you meet him?" he continued, straightening up.

"I don't really think that's important," I said cautiously, clenching my jaw a little. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to this condescending asshole about my personal life.

"I think you do not have a choice, Terran," he snapped quickly, the anger from before quickly resurfacing. I winced a little but didn't look away from him. Why the hell was it important how I had met Peter? It had nothing to do with the orb. I had told them literally everything I knew about that, and as far as I could tell that's why I had been abducted. I could tell he wasn't going to back down though and sighed loudly.

"I met him seven years ago at my mother's funeral," I told him, almost hoping to make him feel bad. I realized quickly that that was a silly thought.

"And he would visit you often after that?" he pressed further. I sighed in exasperation, glaring up at him.

"Once a year on the date we met," I said, frustrated. I hated talking about myself to people that I didn't know, much less some alien warlord. An evil grin spread over Ronan's face, and I felt my frustration melt away into confusion.

"Korath, please show our guest to her new room," Ronan said and stood up with a pleased look on his face.

"Are you taking me back to Earth?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I wanted to feel hopeful, but there was something in his face that told me that was not the case.

"Why would I do that, Terran?" he asked, walking down towards me. His footsteps were fittingly heavy for his form.

"Because I answered all of your questions!" I exclaimed, panic starting to flow through my body.

"That is true. I would be a fool to give up someone who is so clearly attached to the man who stole from me, however. The same someone who appears to be just as attached to you," he explained, his grin widening as I felt arms wrap around mine again.

"No! You can't do this! I told you what you wanted!" I yelled as the Sakaarans started to drag me away. I had fallen into a trap without realizing it. He wasn't actually interested in the details of how we met, just as to whether he could use me or not. "No! Let me go!" I screamed, struggling against the grip of the men holding me. They seem unphased though, dragging me kicking and screaming out of the throne room. The sound of Ronan's laugh filled my ears and I was filled with a rage I hadn't felt in a long time. I would do whatever I need to do to protect Peter now.


	4. Chapter 3

**Sorry for making you guys wait so long! Thank you all for your support and patience. I've been settling in here at England and it's been a little crazy so I haven't had as much time to work on this. Things are stabilizing now though so I should have more free time. I powered through 4 pages today so I could make sure I updated today! I've already started Chapter 4, so that's a good sign for you guys! **

**Also, it has come to my attention that some people think this will end as a Peter/OC and some think it will end as a Ronan/OC. My original intention was for it to end as a Ronan/OC, BUT! I have a plan. With the way I intend to write this story I can write two separate endings, which would be the last chapter. However, Peter/OC fans, you will have to deal with Ronan/OC stuff in the meantime, like I said in the description, and vice versa. If there is enough interest in this then I will definitely do that. I would hate to lose a portion of my audience if they're actually enjoying the story. **

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><p>I stumbled a bit as I was thrown carelessly into a small room. I didn't miss a beat though and instantly turned back towards the door. It snapped shut faster than I had anticipated, but that didn't stop me from banging my fists angrily against it with a frustrated scream.<p>

"LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU PIECES OF SHIT," I yelled, banging my fists angrily against the hard, cold metal. There was no answer though, no sound of any kind of movement on the other side of the door. I kicked the door before running a hand through my hair and storming away from it. There wasn't anywhere for me to really go though. I was in what I imagined to be a space prison cell. Built against one wall was a small, hard looking bare bed. In the corner nearest to the door was what I assumed was a sink and toilet, though I couldn't see anything like toilet paper or general toiletries at all. _Fucking perfect._

I paced the few feet of floor space I had angrily, not ready to accept what was happening. That asshole had tricked me! I thought back through the conversation, trying to figure out what I might have said to give my feelings away or when exactly he had picked up on them. The more I thought about it the more fresh waves of frustration washed over me, and this small room wasn't helping. I felt trapped, and though I wasn't claustrophobic, I didn't like being confined to small spaces.

"You could at least bring me a roll of toilet paper, or some bedding," I yelled at the solid door. I was met again with only silence and I moved to the door. "Do you assholes hear me? You won't get away with this!" I banged my fist against the door again with a little too much force and a pain shot through my wrist.

"Fuck," I muttered, shaking my fist out. I looked down at my hand, rotating it. Thankfully it looked fine, nothing broken and it didn't feel strained. I let out a loud huff and turned and plopped down onto the small bed. It felt thin, but it didn't look like it had been overly used. There were no stains or threadbare spots, but that didn't mean I trusted it. I looked around my new room again, looking for anything to help me. All I saw was smooth, dark grey walls. There was no color other than the white of my mattress. I couldn't even see a vent for air flow, and there was only a brief outline of where the door was. I flung myself down on the bed, my body feeling like it was ready to explode. I had no way to release this frustration, and so the only thing I could do was keep tossing and turning on this horrible mattress.

I was stuck in space. Literally stuck. There was no where I could possibly go. Even if I somehow managed to get out of this cell I couldn't just sneak off the ship and run back home. I don't even know where home _is _right now. And there was certainly no way I would be able to just steal a ship. I paused for a moment, considering that possibility, but quickly dismissed it. I would have no idea how to operate it, much less how to get it off the ship. And then if I did steal it I still wouldn't know how to get home, and there was no way I could out fly the pilots, whoever they were. _Whatever _they were. I was at the mercy of these _aliens_. Was that even the politically correct term? Whatever, I don't care. Two of them were blue, two of them were half robot, and the others were.. well who knows what they were. They weren't human, that's all I know.

I had never missed home so much before. You always tell yourself that no one is going to kidnap you, and when you live in a safe town you believe that. I had never worried about something like that ever happening, and if it did, I always told myself I would know how to handle it. I would do what the captor wanted if I had no way of defending myself, and then when their guard was down I would find a way to escape. No one prepares you for what to do if you get kidnapped and taken to _space_. I still couldn't wrap my head around that fact. I didn't even know if I was in the same galaxy as Earth! Angry tears gathered at the corner of my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. I was not going to cry in this place. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction. And if this Ronan person expected me to be a docile kitten who would do as he said, he had another thing coming.

I wondered if Peter made it safely to Xandar. I hope he sold this orb thing like he planned to and that it was far away so that Ronan couldn't get it. I wished I had a way to contact him, and my hand instinctively reached down to my pocket. I immediately felt silly and sighed heavily, not feeling my phone in my pocket anyways. It wasn't like I had his number, and even if I did have some magical way of contacting him with it, it's not like my phone would work where there were no cell towers. Would people out here even know what a cell phone is? I wondered what would happen to all of my stuff that was just left on the ground at the cemetery. Would someone find it and turn it in to the police? Would people realize I'm missing and start searching for me? How long would I need to be missing before they tried to sell my house? How long have I even been out here?

I clenched my fists, fighting off the panic I was feeling. I would not freak out about this. I didn't have the mental or emotional capacity to do that right now. I could only deal with so many problems at one time. Instead I thought back to Peter again. If he were here he would know what to do right now. He could come up with a plan to get me out of here. He'd wrap those strong arms around me and soothe all of my fears. I imagine that he'd be the type of guy to joke even in dangerous situations like this, and that was exactly what I needed right now. I needed one of his quirky one liners or that goofy smile. I closed my eyes and tried to picture it, my heart aching a little. He probably doesn't even have any idea that I'm here, so I wasn't sure what this Ronan person planned to do with me. It wasn't like Peter was going to rush out to try and save me without knowing I was here, and from the sounds of it they didn't know where he was so it wasn't like they could send him a telegram.

What _was _Ronan planning to do with me? He didn't seem like the type that really needed a bargaining chip. He seemed more like the type to take what he wanted and needed without any regard to what other people thought at any means necessary. At least that was the impression I had gathered in my brief, awful 15 minutes with him. So why take a human girl hostage? Did he think that I could lead him to Peter? If so, he was very mistaken. The man from the cemetery was right; I had never left Earth before so it wasn't like I could give him directions to Peter's whereabouts. I didn't even know what his ship looked like, and it's not like he has an address or anything. He was either always on his ship or on the Ravager's ship. I remembered when he first told me he didn't have a house to come back to at the end of the day, that his ship was his home. The idea seemed foreign to me, and incredibly lonely, but I respected that everyone was different. It had only made me want to see his world more if just to keep him company. I sighed heavily, rubbing my hands over my face. I guess I should have been careful what I wished for.

I heard the door to my prison slide open and I shot up in my bed. In walked two of the Sakaaran soldiers, one carrying a tray with a bowl and a metal cup, the other holding a roll of what looked like toilet paper. I scooted further back on the bed, feeling suddenly a little claustrophobic. The room was small enough with just me in it, and with three in here it felt like a storage closet. They ignored me, however, and set what they were holding down on to the floor since there was nothing similar to a counter. I looked a little bit closer at them now, realizing how human they actually looked. The biggest difference being the weird web-like mask they wore. I wondered briefly what they might look like underneath, an involuntary shudder moving through me. They had the same body shape as a regular man's would though, or at least it appeared that was under all of their dark armor. They had similar red markings on the chest piece of their armor like the rest of them did. In fact it seemed everyone here had the same kind of dark armor. The whole ship was dark. It practically oozed bad guy like some kind of typical movie. The only color the ship possessed was this muted red and the stark blue skin and eyes of the others. '_You forgot purple,'_ my brain reminded me, flashing the image of those intense purple eyes through my head. My teeth grit together as I remembered the satisfaction I had seen there. I used to love purple.

"What… is that?" I asked, peering over to the strange looking liquid in the bowl. It was light in color, but a little cloudy. It looked almost like some kind of chicken broth, and it didn't appear to have anything else in it. I felt a slight pang in my stomach, realizing I hadn't eaten since well before I saw Peter. How long ago was that? Oh, right, I was trying not to think about that.

"Food," the Sakaaran said, his voice sounding odd and muffled. I opened my mouth to say something witty, but they left before I could. I suppose I wouldn't want to stick around for a pleasant chat either after what I had said to them. I didn't even know if it was the same two. Not that I felt bad either way. I carefully lifted up the tray, trying not to tip the cup over, and settled it on the end of my bed. My nose crinkled a little as the smell of it hit my nose. It certainly didn't smell like chicken broth, but that it definitely didn't smell pleasant either. _What the hell is this shit? _I lifted up the spoon that was on the tray and swirled it around in the liquid. It moved like a liquid should, the cloudiness increasing a little at being disturbed. I set the spoon back down and sighed, staring at it apprehensively. Peter had said I might not like Xandarian food, so I assumed this food must not be any better. Was it even the same kind of food? What if it was drugged? It wouldn't be poisoned, not if they wanted to use me. That wouldn't stop them from putting some kind of drug in it. Something that might make me loopy or super honest. Or maybe something that would put me into some kind of a coma until they needed me.

My mind started to race with all the possibilities and I quickly set the tray back down onto the floor. Maybe I was over thinking it, but I wasn't going to fall into any more traps today. My stomach rumbled in protest, but I ignored it. These people had knocked me unconscious, kidnapped me, and forced some kind of liquid down my throat to wake me up. I assumed that was the reason why my head didn't hurt nor did I have a concussion. They wouldn't be able to get much out of me if I was loopy, so it only made sense. They had treated me like some kind of inferior being and threw me in this _closet_. If they wanted to give me more drugs they'd have to force them down my throat.

I sighed heavily and pushed myself off the bed. I walked the few steps over to what I assumed was a sink and tilted my head a little. It looked like it was just a stainless steel basin. I couldn't see a faucet of any kind, and it didn't look like there were any buttons to press. I waved my hand over the basin, seeing if maybe it was one of those weird automated sinks. Nothing happened though. I started to run my hands along the inside of it but immediately pulled them back when it moved. I frowned and lifted the edge of the basin and suddenly discovered it was removable. I looked at the space it had been in to see if I could figure out the secret to how to get it to work, but there was nothing there other than a basin shaped dip. My frown deepened a little as I turned the basin around in my hands. It was light, and it didn't seem like it was made out of a strong material, so it wouldn't make a good weapon. Other than that, it was just as plain as the rest of the cell.

I set it back down into its spot and reached down to pick up the toilet paper they brought. It looked the same as what I was used to, but it felt much different. The material was definitely paper like, but it wasn't the same flimsy kind of sheet you would normally expect. Instead it seemed almost thicker than normal. Whatever. As long as I had something to wipe with, I didn't entirely care. I set it down next to the toilet, which thankfully seemed to be the same as Earth's. Weird sinks I could work with, but I wasn't ready for learning a new way to go to the bathroom.

I walked back to my bed and plopped down again. I pushed myself back into the furthest corner and pulled my knees up to my chest. I looked around the room again, discontent building up inside of me. I wasn't going to be able to stay sane in this room if I was forced to stay here for too long. I never thought I would be forced to stay in something worse than my dorm room in college. At least that had windows. I had no creative outlets in here. No books. No music. No electronics. No floor mates. Or well, if I did there was no way I would know.

My door slid open again a little while later, the two Sakaaran guards walking back in. One picked up the tray and the other started talking to him in a weird language. He almost sounded confused as he looked at the bowl. They both looked at me for a moment then the one holding the tray shrugged and said something to the other. I wondered if they were talking about the fact that I hadn't eaten their possibly drugged, gross soup. The other guard shook his head and then they left my room, the door closing behind them with a snap. '_And now we wait,'_ I thought to myself, letting my head fall back against the hard wall behind me. If their intent truly was to drug me then they now knew I wasn't going to fall for it.

No one showed up though. I watched the door anxiously for what felt like hours, but there was no sign of life outside these four walls. I almost felt disappointed. I kind of wanted someone to come back so that I could resist their plans some more. It was better than sitting here alone in this horrible silence. No one came though, and I resentfully slipped slowly into sleep.

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><p>"Vylit," a voice said, sounding far away. I stirred a little, my mind acknowledging the sound as a familiar one. I was surrounded by a comfortable darkness though, and I wasn't ready to leave it. '<em>Later<em>,' I said to the voice, slipping back into unconsciousness.

"Vylit!" the voice said again, more urgent this time. I frowned a little, realizing my body was moving. _Go away. _The darkness around me was dissipating and in its place colors slowly started to form.

"Please, wake up, Vylit!" the familiar voice yelled desperately. The colors stitched themselves together a bit quicker now, revealing the familiar sight of my prison cell, except for one addition. In front of me, shaking my body was Peter Quill.

"Peter?" I asked in astonishment, eyes widening. I reached out and grabbed on to the familiar leather jacket of his just as a smile erupted onto his face. My head whirled a little, not fully understanding what was going on. It felt like it was really him, but he couldn't possibly be here.

"That's right, Vy. Your knight in shiny armor is here to rescue you. Well, it's more like knight in red leather," he said, cupping my face in his hands. My heart fluttered a little at hearing him use the nickname he had given me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said, still a little startled. I felt my cheeks flush a little under the warmth of his hands, a hesistant smile appearing on my face. "How did you find me though? Did Ronan find out where you were? " I asked quickly, panic bubbling up inside of me. We needed to get out of here before one of the guards realized he was here. How had he snuck on to the ship without alarming any of them?

"We don't have time. I'll explain it once we get to the Milano. Right now we need to get out of here," he said, standing up quickly and reaching a hand out to me. I took it quickly, allowing him to help me out of the bed. "Ready?" he asked, gripping my hand tightly. I nodded, my heart pounding violently in my chest. What would happen if we got caught? I couldn't think through that possibility though as Peter pulled me out of the room and into the hallway. He went left, pulling me along with him, and we ran as fast as we could down the long corridor.

"Halt!" a voice yelled out, and I saw a couple Sakaaran guards run out from an adjoining corridor.

"Get down!" Peter yelled, letting go of me to grab two guns from his belt. Lights flashed over my head, but Peter shot them down quickly. "Let's go," he said, running off down the corridor and I quickly followed. A shrill noise filled the hallway as a red light starting flashing. I guessed that was the alarm.

"Peter, watch out!" I yelled as two Sakaaran guards turned the corner in front of us. We stopped abruptly and he shot them before they even realized what was going on. "See? Weird ninja turtles, what did I tell you?" Peter said, pointing at one with a look of disgust on his face.

"We need to get out of here. Are we almost to your ship?" I asked breathlessly, as I looked at their lifeless bodies lying on the ground. He seemed to be able to easily get rid of Sakaarans, but I doubted he would have that kind of luck if we ran into Ronan.

"Yeah, just a bit further," he said with a forward head nod, and we started running again. I turned my head as I heard footsteps behind us to see a large group of Sakaarans had come out of a hallway behind us.

"Peter, run!" I shouted, ducking my head down as shots fired over my head. Peter turned and shot a couple times, but I could see in his face that he wasn't expecting so many. We ran as fast as we could, taking a couple more turns. I was starting to wonder if we had gotten lost in this labyrinth of gray, but just as I thought that we stumbled into a large, open room. Inside however was no a space ship, but rather what looked like a small army. Sakaaran soldiers were standing everywhere, guns pointed at us.

"_Fuck_," Peter exclaimed, suddenly coming to a halt. I ran into his back, and he reached back to keep me behind him. I turned to see the exit was blocked by the guards who had been following us. They filed in, aiming their guns at us until we were surrounded. "Could any of you tell me how to get to the ship deck? I think I took a wrong turn." None of them seemed amused however.

"Peter," I pleaded quietly, my heart pounding dangerously hard in my chest.

"Where is the orb, thief?" the accented voice of Korath came from off to the side. I wasn't sure when he had gotten there, but he was standing next to us with a gun pointed steadily at Peter's head. His electric blue eyes looked more intense than I remembered and his jaw was clenched tightly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Peter said, trying to keep his cool and lifted his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"You're lying," Korath spat at him, gripping his gun a little tighter.

"You're right, I am," Peter said, before reaching into his pocket and chucking what looked like a small ball of light like the one he had told me about. I felt a body press down on mine, forcing me to the floor as there was an explosion of light.

"Peter!" I yelled out as screams and gunfire filled the space around me. I reached up to feel if it was him on top of me, but just as I touched the leather of his jacket his weight was pulled off of me. As the light subsided I saw Ronan standing there, hand around Peter's throat as he held him a few feet off the floor.

"You will tell me where the orb is," Ronan said in his low, threatening tone.

"I don't have it, man," Peter choked out, his hands gripping on to Ronan's arms for dear life.

"Ronan, no! Let him go!" I yelled scrambling to my feet. I didn't dare make a move on the warlord though, fearing he would hurt Peter for it.

"I do not have the patience to play games with you, Ravager. Tell me where I will find what I seek," Ronan said in an eerily calm voice, his grip tightening around Peter's throat.

"I sold it to someone on Xandar. I don't know their name," Peter said as best as he could between gasps, and I could see his nails were digging into the blue skin of the warlord's.

"Then I have no more use for you. The sentence for your crimes is death," Ronan said with a disgusted sneer on his face.

"NO!" I screamed, reaching out to grab on to Ronan. Strong hands grabbed on to me and pulled me back before I could reach him.

"_Terran," a voice called out to me. It felt far away, drawing my focus briefly from the scene in front of me._

"I told you you would be useful to me," Ronan said, his purple eyes shifting to mine. A sick smile spread across his lips and I struggled violently against the arms that held me.

"_Terran!" the voice yelled again, and the world around me shook for a moment._

"Vylit," Peter choked out, his eyes connecting with mine. With a swift motion the warlord snapped Peter's neck with a loud crunch. I screamed out, my vision blurring as I watched the life leave his eyes. His body dropped in slow motion in front of me as the sound of that satisfied laughter filled my ears.

"_Terran! Wake up," the voice demanded again, and this time I listened to it._

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><p><strong>If you didn't get it, yes she's dreaming. <strong>

**Don't forget to let me know what you think about what I proposed in the beginning!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry for updating so late. I ended up staying up until 3 am last night trying to finish it for you all. Thank you all for the feedback! I suck at responding to reviews, but I read them all and appreciate them greatly. Surprisingly no one asked for a Peter ending, so maybe I converted that one person? **

**Also, I want to keep the story as close to the movies as possible, but frustratingly enough there is only one copy on the internet of the movie. Literally only one. All of the links are the same damn copy. That wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that the conversation between Ronan and The Other before he goes to see Thanos is pretty much cut out other than two lines, so I have to change how I was going to do that scene. Some bullshit. : [ **

**ALSO, the DVD comes out in the UK on November 24th, where as in America it comes out on December 9th. That's some crap. **

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!**

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><p>I suddenly shot up in my bed, screaming loudly. A Sakaaran guard was standing at the foot of my bed and he jumped, yelling as he almost dropped the tray he was holding. I screamed again in shock, not expecting to see anyone other than the dead body of Peter. I scrambled backwards, my heart racing as I looked around desperately. Where the hell was I? Where was Peter? <em>It had all been a dream. <em>The adrenaline flooded out of my system and I felt the tears start to pour down my face. My breathing was ragged and my hands were shaking violently. It had felt so _real_.

"Eat," the guard said cautiously, holding the tray out to me. I ignored him however, wiping away the tears that didn't seem to want to stop falling. I had never had such a vivid dream before in my entire life. I could still feel the warmth of Peter's body from where he had touched me. I put a hand over my aching chest, feeling my heart beat violently in my chest.

"Holy fuck," I muttered quietly, running my hands through my hair. I needed to calm down, but as I took deep breaths all I could see was Peter falling to the floor. I could still hear the sound of that _monster_ laughing in the back of my head.

"Terran, you need to eat this," the guard said again.

"Fuck off, I'm not eating your drugged food," I snapped, glaring up at him. The Sakaaran next to him made a confused sounding inquiry, and I saw that there was a bowl sitting on the tray. It was probably full of the same foul looking liquid at before.

"You must," he insisted, pushing the tray out a little further. I stood up from my bed, and I saw the other Sakaaran's hand twitch towards his gun. Their guns looked nothing like what they had in my dream, and that thought seemed to help to ease my mind. They were much more.. space like, where my dream had made them look normal. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, wiping away the tears from my face with still shaky hands. _Peter is not dead._ I repeated that phrase a couple times, allowing the tension to leave my body. I could hear the Sakaarans talking in their language, but I ignored it. When I opened my eyes again I had managed to stop the tears, though I could still feel my body trembling. I looked up at the guard and he offered the tray to me again, probably thinking I was ready to eat it. I reached out and carefully lifted the bowl, and the Sakaaran next to him visibly relaxed.

"No," I said firmly, and promptly poured the liquid into the nearby toilet. The Sakaarans reacted similarly, both jerking forward an inch as if they could have stopped me, making identical noises of protest. I tossed the bowl onto the ground by their feet, feeling a smug sense of satisfaction. I wondered if they would get in trouble for this, not that I really cared. One of the guards threw his hands up and walked out of the cell, the other following with his head lowered a little. They hadn't even bothered to take the bowl with them. The door snapped shut behind them before I could say anything.

Now that I was alone again I sunk down onto the edge of the bed. I ran my still shaking hands through my hair once more, letting out a loud, slow breath. I had had bad dreams before. I had had dreams that would wake me from a dead sleep with my heart pounding and wondering where I was. I had had dreams of my family after their death that would leave me crying. I never, however, had had a dream that instilled me with that much terror. It was unbearably vivid. Everything from the colors to his touch to the sound of...

I shook my head quickly, rubbing my palms firmly over my eyes. _It wasn't real._ I drowned out the thoughts flying through my head with that single thought. It was as if I was painting a giant red _FAKE_ over each image, taking away any validity my brain might try to attach to it. I opened my eyes and let my body fall back onto the mattress. It was only day two, I think, and this place was already getting to me in extreme ways. Maybe I'd just end up having a severe mental break down and they would decide I was useless and send me back home. Or kill me, but I'd rather not think of that possibility.

A loud, painful rumble emanated from my stomach, and I realized my hands weren't just shaking because of the adrenaline. I hadn't eaten since I had gotten aboard this ship, and I had no idea how long I had been here. My stomach seemed to think it was far too long, however, and it let out another angry rumble. I frowned and sat up, glancing down at the bowl on the floor and then to the toilet. I could still smell the soup and wondered if I had made a mistake. It didn't smell any more appetizing today as it had yesterday, but my stomach sure seemed to not care.

I stood up and walked over to the toilet, looking down at the now watered down soup they had given me. It looked even worse that way and I sneered a little. There was no way in hell I would have eaten it to begin with. I was convinced I had done the right thing. The smell was sending my stomach into a hungry frenzy though, so I quickly reached out to flush it down the drain.

Except there was no handle. I hadn't noticed it before, but there wasn't a handle like there was on a normal toilet. I frowned, slowly pulling my hand back as I looked around desperately for whatever made this stupid toilet work. On the side of the wall I noticed some buttons and figured those had to be it. I reached out, pausing for a moment as I looked at the three different buttons. Which one should I press? _Oh, fuck it._

I pressed the top button, hoping for the best, and the sound of running water filled my ears. Except it wasn't the toilet carrying away the devil soup. Water was steadily flowing into the sink next to me from the sides as if by magic. _Top button, water, good to know._ I pressed the button again, but the water didn't stop. A fleeting moment of panic shot through my chest as I quickly pressed the second button. The toilet in front of me flushed loudly and while that would have made me happy, the water was still pouring into the quickly filling basin. I pressed the third one thinking that that had to be the solution, but the water didn't stop. Instead I could see that steam forming off the now apparently hot water.

"Oh, fuck me," I muttered, panic fully setting in now. I quickly pressed different combinations of the top and bottom button, but it made no difference. The water was flowing over the rim of the basin now, spreading rapidly over the floor. "Fuck," I exclaimed again, awkwardly looking between the floor, the basin, and the buttons. What the hell was I supposed to do now? I reached out and carefully picked up the basin, wondering if maybe I took it out it would magically stop. I was greatly disappointed though as I now realized the water wasn't coming from the basin, but from the wall surrounding it.

"Oh come on, give me a break," I whined a little, not sure what to do with the very full basin of water in my hands. I looked to the toilet and turned quickly to pour it out, but lost my footing on the now slick floor. I fell back, gasping loudly as the contents of the basin poured onto me and I landed hard on the floor. I laid there for a moment, looking down at my now fairly see through top. Why had I decided to wear a nice shirt when I went to visit Peter again? I sighed in frustration and quickly got up, the back of my clothing thoroughly soaked as well.

"HEY, GUYS, I THINK I BROKE THE SINK," I yelled out awkwardly, not sure if anyone could hear me to begin with. I reached out and tried to cover the flow of water with my hands, hoping that maybe it would work as a decent stopper. Instead it shot around my hands and pelted me in the face. At least I had somehow turned the hot water off. Just as I started to drop my hands the door opened to reveal an angry looking Korath.

"Why won't you—What in the hell are you doing? " he exclaimed, his accented voice quickly going from agitation to complete shocked outrage as he looked around.

"Well, you see, I tried to flush the toilet and broke the sink," I said awkwardly, watching as water started to flow out into the hallway. Two Sakaaran guards stood nearby looking like they wanted to be really interested in what was happening, but couldn't. I wondered if it was because Korath was here.

"How..?" he asked, sounding like he wanted to say more, but in his frustration he stopped and moved further into the cell. I moved out of his way as he reached for the panel of buttons I had furiously been pressing. I stood up and tried to look around him to see what he was doing, but he had turned the water off faster than I could move.

"Wait, how did you do that?" I asked, trying to peer over his shoulder to see what exactly he had pressed, because it certainly couldn't have been any of the three buttons I had been pushing. "You know, you guys really should put in some instructions or something. Something to make it a little more 'I'm not from space' friendly," I continued, momentarily losing any sense of self restraint. He turned on me, his electric blue eyes glaring sharply onto my face.

"Why are you refusing to eat the food we bring you?" he snapped at me, clearly deciding that my question wasn't worth his time. The question snapped me back into reality for a moment, and I glared back up at him.

"Because it's probably drugged, and I'm not going to fall for any of your tricks again," I said firmly, clenching my fists at my side. Korath looked at me with exasperation before grabbing my arm and pulling me from the cell.

"Hey, let go of me," I demanded, trying to twist my arm from his grasp.

"No. I am taking you to Ronan. You can explain to him your reasons for these idiotic actions," Korath said without looking down at me.

"Nononono, wait, can't you just tell him?" I asked, suddenly stopping in my tracks. That was the last person I wanted to see right now. I hated that cell, and now that it was flooded I had even less of a desire to stay in it. I would choose that cell every time though over having to have to see Ronan.

"He requested to see you himself, Terran," he said, looking back at me with a slight glimmer of satisfaction on his face. He probably thought my hesitation was out of fear. That my 15 minutes of fame with his boss had set me straight and now I feared him as would be appropriate for a warlord. He couldn't have been more wrong. The man was intimidating, I'd give him that. But after what he did, both in that chamber and in my dream, I felt nothing but animosity for him.

"Let's go," he commanded, pulling roughly on my arm again. I clenched my jaw, realizing how little of a choice I had in this matter as the two Sakaaran guards fell in behind us. I allowed Korath to drag me through the halls, briefly remembering the sight of them in my dream. They looked much brighter here, but still the same, unyielding dark grey. It didn't take us long to reach our destination, and I wished that in my anger I had been paying more attention to the turns we made to get here. Not like I could have ever escaped anyway.

Korath led me to a door that instantly opened as he approached. He dragged me inside and forcibly sat me down in a hard looking chair, which was just as uncomfortable as it looked. In front of me was a long, metal table, and sitting on it was a bowl of that awful looking soup and a cup of water. My stomach twitched a little at the smell, and I quickly looked away.

"Master, I have brought the Terran as you asked," he said, bowing his head towards a figure on the other side of the small room. I repressed a sigh, thoroughly getting annoyed that they refused to call me by name.

"Very well, you may leave," came a bored, low voice that made me grit my teeth just a little more. As Korath started to leave I looked around and realized we were the only two left in the room.

"Wait, don't—" I started, but he didn't even so much as glance back at me as the door closed behind him. _Shit._ I looked over at the darkly clad figure, knowing full well who it was, and wished he would just turn around and face me already. As if reading my mind, he turned slowly until he was facing me, his purple eyes finding mine. '_Never mind, turn back around,_'I thought as anger shot through me at the sight of his face. He didn't listen this time, however, and instead stared at me for a few moments. I refused to be the first to break eye contact and my hands clenched firmly at my sides. I wondered how hard it would be to get the door next to me open. Not that there was really anywhere I could go, but it might have made me feel a little better. All I could see was that sick smile he had in my dream, and though I knew it wasn't real, I wasn't going to forget it so easily. I resisted the urge to blink, slowly starting to feel uncomfortable under his intense stare. I felt like this was almost a test. If I were to look away I'd appear weak, and I was anything but that. Thankfully, his eyes broke from mine first, and casually looked over me.

"Why are you wet?" he asked, his brow furrowing slightly as his eyes slowly made their way back up to mine. I frowned and looked down at my body, momentarily forgetting that I had poured a full basin of water over my body along with all the other waterworks. My soaked shirt clung to my body like it was molded to me, outlining all of my curves. Under the light you could see right through the thin fabric of my shirt, the darker color of my bra bleeding through. My cheeks instantly flushed as I folded my arms over my chest to try to cover it. _Oh god, this guy literally just took his time looking over my body_. I felt exposed, and suddenly wished I would have just ate the damn soup. I wouldn't be here in this position if I had.

"Uh, I broke my sink," I muttered, looking down at the floor. I was too mortified to look at his face. I didn't want to know the look that rested there, my skin crawling a little at the thought.

"You _broke_ the sink?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Yes," I snapped at him. "I didn't know how to turn it off, and flooded my room," I said with a slight huff, concentrating on a specific spot on the ceiling. It was unbelievably frustrating to be in such an embarrassing position in front of this man. There was a brief silence and I glanced over at him. There was a slight amusement resting in his purple eyes, and it took everything in me not to give him the dirtiest look I could muster. Instead I clenched my jaw and looked around the room as casually as I could. It wasn't a very large room, and was bare except for the table and a few chairs. I wondered what this room was used for, but as I remembered who I was locked into this room with, I decided I probably didn't.

"I have been informed that you are refusing your food," Ronan said, walking over to the side of the table next to me, and my eyes shot to the bowl on the table. What was his grand plan in bringing me here? Was he going to force feed it to me? That would go horribly for both of us.

"Yep," I said nonchalantly. I could almost feel the sudden shift in his emotion, and I glanced at him again to see all amusement had left his eyes. I felt a momentary triumph before my stomach let out a low grumble.

"Why?" he asked, his voice considerably lower than it was before. I studied him for a moment, noting the slight clench in his jaw and how tense his body looked in that armor. I turned my head towards his, my eyes connecting with those fierce purple ones, and I felt a sneer starting to form on my face.

"I'm not going to eat your drugged food," I said slowly, letting my anger lace every word. His jaw clenched further, and if it were possible I think sparks would have flown from our eyes.

"Your food has not been drugged, Terran," he said with a slight exasperation. I felt my lip twitch in annoyance as he called me by that name again.

"Oh, and I'm supposed to believe that just because you said it?" I snapped at him, giving him an incredulous look.

"What reason do you have to imagine I would?" he asked, clenching his fists at his side.

"I don't know. Maybe the fact that you kidnapped me. Interrogated me like I was some kind of criminal. Tricked me and threw me into a tiny cell!" I yelled at him, standing up in my anger. A look flashed behind his eyes, but before I could read what it was he had taken a step towards me, closing the gap. I reached out instinctively to push him away, my hands colliding briefly with the rough armor he wore before his hands wrapped around my wrists. He pulled them away from him, but it only pulled me closer, and I became all too aware of how close he was. His grip was like iron, and his warm fingers wrapped easily around my wrist, lighting a fire under my skin. I could feel the heat of his body emanating off his armor against my cold, wet skin and I tried to pull back but his grip was too strong. I glared into those unyielding purple eyes of his, and I saw a similar fire burning there that I felt inside of me.

"Let go of me," I said in a low, threatening tone, struggling against his grip. His eyes narrowed on me, and he opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything the door opened from the other side of the room.

"Ronan, I—," the person started, and I turned my head to look and see who entered. Standing there was the blue, mechanical woman I met when I first got here. Her pupil-less eyes were wide as she looked at us. I saw her eyes shoot from our faces to his hands around my wrists before resting on me. Her eyes travelled down to my shirt and her eyes hardened, and I realized she was reading the situation very wrong. I opened my mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance.

"What is it, Nebula?" Ronan asked, keeping a firm grip on my wrists. I clenched my jaw, situating myself as far back as I possibly could from him, which unfortunately wasn't as far as I'd like.

"I just received a report that the Nova have captured Gamora on Xandar along with the ravager Peter Quill and two others. They have taken them to the Kyln," she said bitterly, as she focused all her attention on Ronan. My heart skipped a beat as I heard this, an almost silent 'what' escaping my lips. Who the hell was Nova and what the fuck was the Kyln? I felt his grip tighten on my wrists and I looked up to see a new kind of anger residing in his eyes. It didn't appear to be directed towards me and my eyes quickly shot back to Nebula, hoping she would give me more information.

"What of the orb?" he asked quickly. Nebula hesitated for a moment, her jaw clenching briefly.

"There was no news of it from the Nova," she informed him, but it seemed almost like she wanted to say more.

"If you are hiding something from me, Nebula, I would advise against it," Ronan said threateningly, his eyes narrowing on her. It seemed this Gamora was one of them. Did that mean they knew Peter was going to Xandar the whole time?

"The Other wishes to speak with you immediately," Nebula answered, that bitter edge biting into her words again. Who the hell was the Other? The questions just kept piling up, none of them getting anywhere close to being answered, but they were quickly drowned out by the sudden pain shooting through my arm.

"Ow, Ronan," I said helplessly as I desperately tried to twist my arms from his increasingly firm grasp. His blue fingers dug into my flesh, and I felt like if he gripped me any harder he'd break my wrist. His eyes snapped to mine, and the rage I saw there made my heart pound quickly in my chest. I had never seen him this angry, and I felt trapped under his gaze. I could practically see the thoughts racing behind his eyes, and he kept me pinned there for a long moment before suddenly coming to his senses. He released my wrists, and without so much as a word to me walked past me and toward the door.

"Very well. Tell him I have some business to attend to and will contact him as soon as I am able," he spoke slowly, a dangerous edge to his voice. I rubbed my rapidly reddening wrists, feeling myself take a small step back. My pulse only increased at his words, hoping desperately that I wasn't the _business_ he needed to take care of. Nebula seemed to think the same thing, her eyes flashing towards me before she spoke again.

"As you wish," she said boredly, but there was a fire in her eyes as she said it, her eyes darting between the two of us. She turned on her heel and left in a fluid motion, the door closing behind her and sealing me in once again with the warlord. He turned to face me again, anger radiating off every part of his body. Suddenly the room felt much smaller than it had before, his purple eyes piercing through me. If I wasn't so headstrong I might have shrunk back from him, but instead I met his gaze head on, wondering if he could hear how hard my heart was beating.

"You _will_ eat, Terran," he said threateningly, taking a step towards me, and I got the very strong impression that for once maybe I should listen.


	6. Chapter 5

**Ahh, I'm so sorry guys! When I started working on this I realized it had almost been a month again before I updated. I got real confused because it felt like it had only been a couple weeks. This one is a little longer than the other ones to try to make up for it. I'll be working on the next bit soon, which is going to be another P.O.V. chapter. Who could it possibly be? There's so many choices! Once I get home in December it will be much easier to update. The only thing you'll have to battle with at that point is Dragon Age, and I have to take a break at some point. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! **

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><p>Every fiber of my being wanted to resist the command the warlord had just given me, but my brain was strongly advocating for cooperation. His anger had filled every corner of the room, surrounding me like a dark, lethal promise. With Nebula gone, there was nowhere else for him to direct it, and his purple eyes blazed as if he was daring me to defy him right now. I glared him down for only a moment more before finally deciding to move.<p>

"Fine," I spat out before swiftly sitting down in the chair. I straightened myself out, pulling my chair up to the table, and picked up the spoon. I stared down at the murky looking soup, clenching my jaw as I breathed in deeply. The smell of it made my stomach clench painfully, and one of my hands twitched towards it. Instead I clenched it tightly, hoping that Ronan hadn't noticed. I tried to move the spoon into the bowl, but my body didn't want to cooperate. The threat of something harmful being in this soup was still very real. Though I knew in the end I was going to have no choice, I still was worried about what exactly was going to come next.

"_Eat_," Ronan commanded again, moving to my side now. Feeling him so close to me sent an uncomfortable ripple through my body, and I resisted the urge to scooch away.

"I'm working on it," I snapped. I slid the spoon into the soup before he could think to say anything back. I swirled the liquid around, my lips curving down at the sight of it. _I have to do this._ I lifted a spoonful of the liquid out of the bowl, pausing for a moment, then braced myself and shoved it in my mouth. It was slightly bitter at first, reminding me of a bad medicine, but I swallowed it anyways and went for another spoonful. I could do this. It was a simple mind over matter situation. I choked down a couple more before a sudden, crippling pain erupted inside my stomach. I gasped and dropped the spoon onto the table, my body folding in on itself. My head thudded down onto the table as I tried unsuccessfully not to cry out from what felt like my stomach ripping itself apart. Was this a reaction to the food? Or had it actually been drugged?

"Drink this, Terran," Ronan said calmly from next to me, sliding the glass of water towards me. I shook my head and tried to push him away, but his body was as unyielding as iron. "_Drink it_," he commanded again, grabbing onto my arm and pushing it towards the cup. I grabbed it weakly, a quiet murmur of pain escaping me as I lifted it shakily to my mouth. I wrapped my other hand around it to steady myself and took a small sip. The cool water was refreshing, sliding down my throat soothingly. It surprisingly didn't taste too different from home, but I wasn't really in a position to be thankful about that. The pain seemed to ebb away for a moment, so I took another drink, larger this time. I set the cup down onto the table carefully and moved one hand to rest over my stomach as the pain thankfully started to completely disappear though my body still felt weak. I pushed my slightly damp hair back with a shaky hand, taking a few deep breaths until I was sure the pain wasn't going to come back.

"What the hell was in that?!" I asked with a breathless anger, turning my head to glare up at him.

"Your Terran body is primitive. In order for your body to digest our food a serum has to be ingested. It changes the biology of your digestive system to accept food outside of your Terra. Your reaction wouldn't have been as strong if you had eaten it when it was first brought to you. The transition is painless when there is still something in your stomach," he explained impatiently, the anger from before still coursing strongly behind his eyes.

"So it _was_ drugged!" I exclaimed, deciding to ignore momentarily the fact that he called me primitive. I was glad to hear that I wasn't going to become a chatty cathy or put into a catatonic state from whatever had been in this soup, but to hear that they gave me something that changed my _biology_?

"A drug you should be grateful to have received," he snapped back, his fists clenching at his sides.

"You could have at least told me what you were giving me. I think I have a right to know that you were changing my _body_! Is it going to change anything else?!" I yelled back at him incredulously. I realized a moment too late that I had pushed too far in his already angered state and immediately regretted it. His hand shot around my neck and lifted me from the seat as if I was nothing but a paper doll, bringing me up so that I was eye level with him. I grabbed desperately onto his armored arms, a brief yell of surprise escaping me.

"You have no _rights_ on this ship, Terran. You are my prisoner and I will treat you as I see fit until you no longer have any use to me. Do you understand?" he bellowed, his purple eyes burning into mine. I kicked my feet uselessly, wishing desperately to be back on the floor. Suddenly the image of Peter being in this exact position flashed through my mind and my body froze. I became very aware of how powerful his fingers felt, warm and digging into my skin, but not so tightly that I couldn't breathe or talk. I could still see the red rings around my wrists from his hands earlier, and his grip right now seemed almost polite in comparison. I was reminded of how easily he had snapped Peter's neck, like it was nothing more than a brittle shell, and I did not want to meet the same fate.

"Yes, I understand," I said quietly, and satisfaction flashed through his eyes. While normally that would have filled me with the fire of a thousand suns, this time it filled me with relief.

"Now you will finish this and you will ask no more questions," he said slowly, his bass voice rumbling through my body. I would have nodded my head, but he dropped me back down carelessly into the chair before I could. I grabbed onto the table to steady myself and shot a glare at the back of his head as he started to walk away. The room wasn't big enough for him to go very far though, and he gradually started to pace the small space beside the table. I did my best to ignore how uncomfortable his overwhelming presence made me feel and instead picked up the spoon. I sighed internally and slid the spoon into the still foul looking soup. The sooner I got this over with the sooner I could get away from this asshole. I wondered how much more I had to eat for this 'serum' to work.

When I tasted the soup this time, however, it was no longer bitter. I paused and sat up for a moment, staring down at the bowl in confusion. Was this part of what that serum did? I cautiously took another spoonful only to again be pleasantly surprised by the rich flavor that filled my mouth. It wasn't a flavor I was familiar with, but I could only closely relate it to a broth of some kind. My stomach gurgled impatiently, and hunger took over as I mindlessly dug into the soup with gusto to appease it. Had the serum been in the other two bowls as well? A part of me almost felt bad for wasting it, but it was only natural that I would try to look out for myself after everything I had gone through. How was I supposed to know he was trying to look out for me? _Wait._

"Slow down. If you get ill then this will have been for nothing," Ronan snapped at me. I paused mid spoonful and looked up to see that he had stopped to watch me. I slowly ate what was on the spoon this time before putting it back into the bowl. Had he been trying to look after me this whole time? The thought sent a very uncomfortable anxiety through me. That couldn't be true. This brutish warlord was the furthest thing from caring. He had me kidnapped and locked me into a small cell with the intention of using me for his own gain. He plagued my dreams. I'd most likely have bruises from his man handling. And yet instead of letting me suffer through whatever his food would do to my digestive system, he made sure I would be able to eat it, despite my resistance. He even just considered that I hadn't eaten in a few days and eating too quickly would make me sick. There was still a very good possibility that he was only doing this to keep me in good condition for his own purposes. The facts remained the same though, and I didn't like feeling like I should be grateful to this person.

"I said slow down, not stop," he growled, and the sound of his voice filled me with annoyance. I refused to believe that he was doing this for my benefit. With that thought on repeat in my brain, I began to eat the soup again, but slower this time. I assumed Ronan was satisfied with this as he began to pace again. We remained in silence the rest of the time, the only sound being the heavy thud of his boots on the floor.

I regarded him out of the corner of my eye as inconspicuously as possible. The angles of his face were masked by the thick paint he wore, but you could still see his strong jawline just past the edges of the headdress he wore. It was even more prominent in his anger since his jaw was clenched. His whole entire face was tense, and there was something oddly attractive about it. I had never seen a man like him before. Yes, I had seen plenty of muscular men, and men who thought they had to be super aggressive all the time, but there was something different with Ronan. The armor he wore was thick and hugged his body closely, but it gave no indication as to the muscle underneath. The darkness of it with the red made it intimidating, yet I don't think that was the purpose. He didn't seem the type that needed to make sure his enemies were intimidated by him. He was confident in himself and his presence demanded a respect. _That was it_.

Unlike the men I had known, he wasn't putting up a front. He knows what he is capable of, who he is, and what he wants. He doesn't try to _earn_ your respect. He either gets what he wants or removes his obstacle. The way he moved almost seemed unnatural before, but with this understanding it seemed fitting. His posture was almost perfect, yet he held his arms away from his body as if he had done too many arm days at the gym. It held a fluidity to it, though it wasn't graceful or gentle. With everything I had experienced in the last hour, his body seemed almost too small for the amount of power he possessed. A part of me was startling intrigued by him, and the other part of me reminded me he was an asshole, the enemy, and to finish my damn soup.

"What is it, Terran?" he said, breaking the silence. The sound of it snapped me out of my thoughts, and I realized I was no longer subtly staring at him but outright doing so. My cheeks flared for the second time today, I hastily looked away and turned my full attention to the almost empty bowl in front of me.

"Nothing," I said a little too quickly. _Oh god, he caught me staring at him. _

"You were _staring_ at me," he continued, sounding like he was almost ready to snap again. _Yeah, I got that, thanks. _In a panic I grabbed the bowl and downed the last bit of it.

"Okay, I'm done with my soup, you can go talk to that Other guy," I said, getting up and heading for the door. Whatever was happening with this Gamora person must be really serious, because I couldn't believe that I was the reason he was still so angry. He only watched me suspiciously, and I fidgeted a little, trying not to make eye contact. I saw his thick soled boots approach me, and I resisted the urge to shrink back. He stopped in front of me, and I reluctantly looked up at his face. His purple eyes were narrowed on my face, and I crossed my arms over my still damp shirt. I became very aware that if he took one more step I would be caught between him and the wall. He was much too close for comfort.

"If you are up to something, Terran, I will find out and I will punish you accordingly," he threatened lowly.

"_That's not—_I'm not up to anything," I said, stopping myself from snapping at him for calling me Terran again. I didn't feel like being shown again how much of a rag doll I was in comparison to his strength. He regarded me for another few moments before the door behind me opened, leading me to my sweet release. I didn't question how, since I'm pretty sure he didn't move, but I turned and walked into the hallway. The deep breath I started to take came out as more of a strangled gasp as I felt an iron grip pull me back.

"Where do you think you're going?" rumbled Ronan's voice behind me dangerously. The Sakaaran guards that were standing post suddenly snapped back into attention and turned towards us, hands on their guns. I turned with an exasperated huff and glared up at him. I could only pretend to be nice and cooperative through so much.

"I was leaving the room so you could shove me back into that closet you call a room," I snapped at him. His eyes flared for a moment, and I quickly continued before he could think I was trying to be unruly again. "I'm not an idiot, Ronan. I'm human. I don't know the first thing about this ship. I don't know how to get around and I certainly don't know how to use any of your alien technology. I'm not dumb enough to do something as useless as trying to escape when there's nowhere for me to go." I wasn't expecting the silence that followed. I was expecting some kind of speech, or some display of power for speaking so bluntly. Instead, he regarded me with a steely gaze that I couldn't begin to comprehend. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. I was trapped there under his eyes. There was anger in his eyes, there was always anger, but I thought I could see respect lingering there again. It confused me. What could I possibly have done to earn this man's respect? Was it even something I wanted to have?

"Sakaarans, take her back to her cell," Ronan ordered, cutting through my thoughts abruptly. His hand released my arm only to be replaced by the cool feeling of the Sakaarans' armor. They replied back, saying something in their language, and then jerked me in the direction of my cell.

"Watch it," I snapped, glaring at the one who had pulled me. He ignored me though and kept walking. I looked behind me to see if Ronan was going the same way as we were, and my eyes connected with that same steely, unreadable expression. He watched me for only a second before he turned and started off in the opposite direction. _Thank god._

"Eyes forward, prisoner," came the weird voice of one of the Sakaarans, and I felt another firm tug on my arm. I only let out a dissatisfied _tsk_ before doing as I was told. The walk back seemed much shorter than the walk there, and I wondered if that was because I was dreading seeing Ronan, which was completely justified. In the time I spent with him we fought and he practically saw me without a shirt on. He manhandled me, drugged me, and bruised me, and to top it off, Nebula probably thought something was happening between us. These were all things I never wanted to experience again. And yet, in a weird way, it turned out much better than I expected it to. I was pulled out of my train of thought as the Sakaarans stopped in front of a door. The one that wasn't holding my arm reached out and pressed a couple buttons on the panel next to the door and it slid open. The one holding me let go and gave me a shove causing me to stumble into the room.

"It's been a pleasure!" I called out as sarcastically as possible. There was no response as the doors slid closed, entombing me once again in the silence of my cell. I sighed and plopped down on to the shitty mattress. It seemed like someone had cleaned up the floor since it was no longer covered in water. That or they had moved me to a different room. I would never know the difference.

I fell back on the mattress, staring up at the dark ceiling. This week had been so _weird. _How I was handling everything so well was beyond me. Anything less than being a screaming, crying mess didn't seem appropriate for this situation, and yet here I was. I wouldn't exactly say I was calm, but I was headstrong and outspoken and probably had come closer to death than I knew a couple times because of it. I missed my home, but I knew there was nothing I could do about that. Maybe that's why I wasn't losing my mind. I knew it would solve nothing, and that the only way to get through this was to do whatever it took to survive. I could only hope that maybe I could return to some kind of normalcy after all this, and that maybe it could involve Peter.

Peter. The thought of him sent a sad pang through my chest. Guaranteed he had no idea I was here. He'll be so upset with himself if he ever finds out that his pit stop to keep our promise was what got me into this mess. It wasn't even a good visit at that. He had to leave so suddenly, and now I understood why. He was on a job. He must have figured out that this orb was a big deal and knew he couldn't stay in any place for too long. Despite all that, he risked it coming to see me. That thought should have made me happy, but instead it made the pain in my chest heavier. I seriously hoped he was okay right now. Nebula had said that he was captured by someone called Nova and sent to a place called the Kyln. They had been tracking him, and I'm sure whoever this Gamora was was one of their best. If the orb was that important they wouldn't have just sent anyone. I didn't know who or what any of these things were, but with the anger I saw in Ronan because of it, that gave me enough of a reason to be seriously worried.

"Peter… please be okay," I whispered softly to no one. I closed my eyes and laid one of my arms over my face, attempting to block out the annoying light.

* * *

><p>The night air was warm and refreshing on my skin. It had been an unbearably hot day, but night time was my favorite. It was when the world cooled and you could finally breathe without feeling like you were being choked by humidity. There wasn't a cloud in sight, and I couldn't have been more thankful for that. I had found this perfect spot years ago where on nights like this you could see the stars perfectly. There weren't any lights or noise from the city or nearby houses. It was just you, enveloped in darkness, underneath the unbelievably open sky filled with more stars than you could count.<p>

This night was especially beautiful though. I was sharing it with the mysterious man I had met a few years ago, Peter. We had spent the last few hours talking and swapping stories. I had made him a home cooked dinner since I wasn't sure when the last time was that he had had one. He had seemed to enjoy it, thankfully, since he just about shoveled it all into his mouth. Now we were lying side by side on the blanket I had brought, staring up at the night sky.

"It's so beautiful," I whispered softly, a satisfied smile on my face.

"Yeah it is," he responded quietly. "Though it's nothing like this in space."

"Really?" I asked, turning my head to look at him. It was dark, but we had been out here long enough that our eyes had adjusted and I could see his face.

"In space they're so much closer. When you're flying through them it's like you're completely surrounded by them. And it's not as dark. There's so many different colors," he says with a childlike wonder. I smile as I watch him, cherishing these small moments where he's not being funny or a smart ass. It makes me feel closer to him in a way.

"Wow… that sounds amazing," I say, turning to look back up at the sky. I tried to imagine what it would look like, if the sky was filled with various colors and the stars floating among them. It truly does sound amazing. Maybe one day I would be able to see it.

"It's alright," he said nonchalantly, but I could tell he was glad I was impressed. I had only known Peter for a few years now, but I felt this odd connection to him. Ever since that day at my mother's funeral, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I went back a few times, wondering if maybe I would run into him, but he never showed up. I couldn't get him out of my mind though. I was so curious about him. Where he came from, who he was, if he had family in the area. When I went back on the anniversary of her funeral, I saw him again and my sadness was temporarily replaced by joy. It was then that I found out the truth of where he came from.

I didn't believe him at first. I mean, who just accepts something like that at face value? By the end of the day I was a little more convinced, but for the most part I was still wary. The next time he came, he showed me some of the tools of his trade, and that's when I started to really believe him. I had never seen anything like them. And the stories he told me! I had never heard of anything like them, and he was so confident and consistent that I believed he couldn't have made it all up. When he came the next year I made sure to bring him the foods he said he missed, and we spent the day talking about the year we had just had, all the good and the bad. We decided then that we should make this a yearly thing, and that was when I really started to realize I may have fallen in love with him. I had had crushes on other men, but I didn't feel the same intensity for any of them like I did for Peter.

"Peter?" I asked cautiously, tilting my head towards him a little.

"Yeah, Vy?" he said, using his nickname for me. My heart fluttered for a moment, and I almost lost my nerve. Instead I took a deep internal breath, and asked the question I had been too polite to ask all these years.

"Why exactly happened to your Mom?" I asked quietly. There was a long, uncomfortable pause, and I wondered if maybe he wouldn't answer. Maybe I shouldn't have asked. Just because I felt we were close didn't mean that he felt that way. I was about to open my mouth and apologize and tell him never mind, but surprisingly, he answered.

"It was cancer. I don't know what kind. I was young, so I don't remember a lot of it," he said softly. Suddenly he sat up with a sigh, scratching the back of his head a bit. A sad pang shot through my heart as I slowly sat up next to him. I hadn't thought it would be anything like that, but death was painful regardless of how it happens. "I refused to believe what was happening. I didn't…" he started, but then suddenly trailed off. I frowned sadly and reached out and took his hand. He looked down at it for a moment, surprised, before looking up at me.

"It's okay, Peter. Don't push yourself. You don't have to talk about anything you're not ready to talk about yet," I reassured him. He smiled at me sadly, and I felt his fingers intertwine with mine. I was thankful for the darkness then as my cheeks warmed.

"What about your Mom?" he asked cautiously. I looked away from him for a moment, my lips pursing for a moment. I didn't talk about it often, but it was only fair for him to rip open my wounds after I had done the same to him.

"She died in a car accident. This guy hit her head on. She died instantly," I told him, straining to hold back my sadness. It had been a few years since she passed, and I was doing a lot better with it, but there were still many days when I wished she was there for me to talk to. He squeezed my hand comfortingly, and I turned to look up at him with a sad smile. When our eyes connect I felt my heart start to beat a little harder in my chest. Even in this darkness I could still see the beautiful hazel of his eyes, and there was the same sadness I felt reflected there. He reached up and ran his thumb across my cheek bone before cupping my face in his rough hand. My eyes darted back and forth between his and my pulse quickened even further. Was he going to…? I felt him pull my head forward gently as he slowly moved closer to me and my eyes slid closed in anticipation. I could feel his warm breath on my face, my heart beating faster every second I was kept in suspense. His soft lips pressed against mine gently at first, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. His hand moved its way to the back of my head, and I felt my free hand reach forward and grab onto the edge of his coat. He deepened the kiss, his lips pressing against mine with a passion that made my head swim. I felt like my heart would burst in my chest at any moment it was beating so hard. I hoped he didn't hear it, but that worry was quickly drowned in bliss the more he kissed me.

After that night, I never stood a chance. My heart belonged to him, and no other man would ever be able to compare.

* * *

><p>"Prisoner," a voice called, and something hard jabbed into my side. I jerked awake, gasping in surprise a little. I hadn't realized I fell asleep again, and stared up at the Sakaaran guard in confusion. "Ronan had these prepared for you," the guard continued, throwing something at me. I caught the cloth, and frowned as I slowly sat up. The guard didn't bother waiting for a response as he left the room. I looked down at what he had given me, picking up the cloth cautiously. Something fell to floor as I did so, and I suddenly realized what this was.<p>

In my hands was a shirt. It was a neutral color, _surprise_, and surprisingly sturdy feeling. It wasn't very soft, but I guess that's what one could expect from clothes given to a prisoner. I reached down and picked up the matching pants from the floor and laid them both in my lap. I stared at them for a few moments, unmoving. I wondered if this was because of the state of my clothes earlier, or if this was just a requirement for new prisoners. Regardless, I was again filled with the very uncomfortable feeling like I should be grateful to this man.

_This is not okay._

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, boo. I know, I know. You're a little outraged that Peter and Vylit got a kissing scene before she made a move on Ronan, who she is clearly starting to get confused about. I mean, how more obvious could she have been? Don't worry, their time will come eventually. All good things take time. <strong>


	7. Gamora's POV - Kyln

**What, two updates in less than 24 hours?! I had a bit of spare time today, so I figured I would write up one of the P.O.V. chapters I have planned. I haven't forgotten about you guys, don't worry. School just gets crazy sometimes and I don't have a lot of time to work on the story. I'm always thinking about it though, so fear not! I mean, how could I not be thinking about Ronan/Lee Pace all the time? **

**There will be another P.O.V. chapter after this one, and I'll start working on that one a bit later. It's going to be longer than this one, but like I said, I'm following along with the story line in the movie, and Gamora's scene came first. I hope you guys like these. I thought they would be a cool little way to kind of keep the story going and give you a change of pace. Kind of give you an idea as to what's happening in the rest of the world and maybe what might be coming next. **

* * *

><p>"Listen, I could care less as to whether you live or whether you die!" Peter exclaimed. He had been following her back since his clumsy rescue down in the showers. Gamora had expected something like this to happen. While being in Thanos' <em>care<em> she had never been caught, so she had never experienced prison, but she was well aware as to who exactly would be occupying the cells with her. Thanos and Ronan had no shortage of enemies in this galaxy, and many of the people who had been left behind in the wake of their destructive paths remained here. Everyone knew someone who had been affected by the greed of their conquests, and if they didn't then they were well aware of it. She had been reminded of it nonstop since she arrived in the Kyln. Insults and death threats were hurled at her, which had almost become realities.

"Then why stop the big guy?" Gamora asked, turning on the Ravager in frustration. As much as she appreciated his help, she wanted to be alone. If she was going to survive this prison then she needed time to think of some kind of plan, and his incessant talking was only making her head hurt.

"Simple," Peter said, his face full of confidence as he realized he finally got her attention. "You know where to sell my orb." She wanted to laugh in his face.

"How are we going to sell it when _we_ and _it_ are still here?" she asked bitingly, her patience quickly disappearing. She didn't have time to deal with his stupid questions right now, and besides, it wasn't _his_ orb. She would do whatever was necessary to get it back into her possession and off this ship. She _needed _to if she was ever going to get away from the hell she had been living in. Suddenly the Ravager turned, a pleased smile crossing his face as he looked down at the creature that had also been following them.

"My friend Rocket here has escaped 22 prisons," he said glibly, and she looked down at an equally smug furry face. The last thing she wanted to do was trust her potential livelihood on this rodent. He was half the reason she was here in the first place. She hadn't expected someone else to be after Quill, and it threw her off guard. If he and his walking tree hadn't of interfered she would have the orb safely in her possession and be halfway across the galaxy by now.

"Oh, we're getting out," he said confidently, his small arms crossed over his chest. "And then we're headed straight to Yondu to retrieve _your_ bounty."

"How much was your buyer willing to pay you for my orb?" Peter asked, looking back up at her. Gamora sighed, looking away from the both of them. She knew that if she told them how much it was worth she would be forced to work with them. She preferred to work alone, but perhaps this time it would be best if she relied on others. If Rocket truly had escaped from that many prisons before then he was truly her best bet for getting out of here. While Quill was a less than desirable travelling companion, he did have his own ship. It would fit the four of them comfortably and would be a lot quicker than trying to find a Nova ship.

Besides, Quill had made an excellent point. She had betrayed Ronan, and guaranteed he knew about it. Nebula would have received the message that Gamora had been captured as soon as the news was transmitted to the authorities. Thanos has a great number of spies as well, and it wouldn't be impossible for him to have found out her true intentions with the orb and relayed that to Ronan. Whether he had or hadn't however was irrelevant. Ronan would come for her. There was no way he would allow Thanos' favorite weapon to remain inside a prison where she could potentially be killed and of no use to anyone. Thanos would never forgive him for it, and he needed him to fulfill his crazy, fanatical wish of revenge. Besides, if it hadn't of been for Quill she would be a bloodless corpse on the shower floor right now. She owed him, and she never left her debts unpaid.

"Four billion units," she said, turning to look at them. The look of utter shock on their faces was exactly what she had expected.

"What?!" Rocket shouted incredulously, his ears perking up.

"Holy shit!" Peter said, his firm stance loosening for a moment.

"That orb is my opportunity to get away from Thanos and Ronan," Gamora explained, and they both watched her with rapt attention. "If you free us… I'll lead you to the buyer directly and I'll split the profit between the three of us." A small smile spread across Peter's face as he nodded quickly in agreement.

"I am Groot!" came the deep sound of the tree's voice from beside them. Gamora turned her head to see him standing against the chain wall, watching them with a look that practically said 'how could you have left me out?'. He wanted to be included in the deal? She supposed it made sense since he was with Rocket, but what would a walking tree do with one billion units?

"Four of us. Asleep for the danger, awake for the money. As per fricken usual," Rocket said, throwing one of his arms up in disbelief. Groot only made a deep, rumbling noise of agreement, giving the rodent a hard look. Whatever, it didn't matter if it was split three ways or four ways. One billion units was enough for her to be able to live a comfortable life somewhere where no one would recognize her and she wouldn't be found. She desperately hoped this was going to work.

"So, we've got a deal," Peter said, smiling mischievously between the four of them. Suddenly she remembered the girl that Korath had brought onto the Dark Aster just before she had left it. Hadn't he said she was a Terran girl who was a friend of Peter's? Gamora wondered if she should mention it to him. If she was truly his friend he should probably be made aware of what has happened to her. Yet… then again, if he knew she was in danger he might compromise their entire mission to save her. She couldn't risk something like that happening. Not while there was a promise of escape. There was no way they could go up against Ronan right now and succeed. God only knows what had happened to the girl after she left. There was no way Ronan would have allowed her to go home. At best he had taken her prisoner. At worst… well, there would be nothing left worth saving. _Sorry, Quill._

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there you have it! Also, to the person who was asking me about Dragon Age, yes I do mean Dragon Age: Inquisition. I can't play it until I get back from England, so the suspense has literally been killing me. I see all the pretty pictures and read all the happy statuses and I'm just like this is cool, I'm stuck here... with no TV or playstation. Just me and my computer... Three more weeks. Then I can veg out with my cat and playing it for days. <strong>

**I'll try to get the next little bit up by the end of the week!**


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